With Dawn Arrives The Akatsuki
by HiroyukiSaya
Summary: Akiyama Saya was a normal melancholy teenager with a hopeless dream to become a novelist. But when the Akatsuki suddenly summon her thinking she was stronger than a Jinchuuriki and force her to join, pranks, hilarity, abuse, conflicts, and love ensue.
1. Prelude

**I do not own Naruto, but I like him very much.**

Whole Summary: Akiyama Saya was a normal melancholy teenager with a hopeless dream to become a novelist, but when the Akatsuki suddenly summon her thinking she was stronger than a Jinchuuriki and force her to join, pranks, hilarity, abuse, conflicts, and love ensue. Although the Akatsuki were viewed as cold and evil to the rest of the Naruto World, Saya sees a different side of her new comrades. Before she realizes it, she has to fight in the most important battles in her life and make the choice between doing what is universally right and betraying the only real family she ever had.

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**P R E L U D E **

While walking down a grassy path, I stopped and looked at the sky through the forest trees. For a moment, I forgot everything as I gazed at the blue, white, and green, feeling only the spring breeze and the morning sunlight on my face. This ephemeral bliss calmed my strained mind and heart, but I sighed as I knew I had to return to reality.

Continuing my morning walk in the local park, I thought about why I was in this condition. Somehow, I couldn't pinpoint the moment when I had started to outcast myself from other people. I grew up in a normal lower-class family with no major events happening at the time, and I had normal friends. There was a point when my parents had stopped expecting anything from me, calling me disgraceful and a failure as a child because I wasn't good at anything. My friends from middle school became distant, making new friends since entering high school, while I was being anti-social. The only thing that I really wanted to do was to write stories, but my parents weren't supportive of my pursuing of that career. At some point I left the house and dropped out of school, immediately working at different jobs and looking for publishers. It wasn't easy to shake off my parents, but they eventually gave up after a while, knowing that I was doing fine. All communication with my friends and family had ended there.

Finding publishers was not going well. Every company I visited had pushed me away because I had not finished school and had no credentials. I really had no reason to go to school anymore, but when I asked them to read my work, they had refused.

I was currently residing in a studio apartment above a family restaurant, so the rent was cheaper than usual. The family was nice enough, but was still distant like everyone else, never really approaching me. Apparently, I naturally do that to people.

Stopping in the small meadow that was my private place, I sat under the large Japanese maple tree that I usually wrote under. On the trunk there was a strange symbol that someone had carved, and I had always wondered what it meant and who drew it. No one ever came here besides me. In the springtime, wild flowers bloomed, and I watched as they swayed with the wind. Grinning to myself at my pathetic state, I thought darkly.

_I've really become a failure._

**Akatsuki**

"Nagato, the summoning ritual is ready," Konan said, standing beside him.

"Then," the leader announced, both to his lover and to his followers around him, "Let us begin."

**Saya**

Feeling rather sleepy, I drifted in and out of consciousness. The beaming sunlight was very bright, shining down on the meadow. In fact, it was blinding. Shielding my eyes, I found that the entire meadow was gleaming, and I stood, confused. The sun didn't cast light like this. Looking around, I spotted the glowing symbol on the tree emitting a strange aura. Before I could react to this, I was lifted off my feet, my body resting on the light. The last thing I saw in this world was the aesthetic blue, white, and green above me before it went dark.

Landing gently onto a smooth, hard floor, I regained my composure, trying to figure out what was going on. My eyes were still adjusting to the sudden darkness.

"Ah, it worked!" an overjoyed voice remarked.

"Whewww, we're lucky bastards," another rather loud voice said. "It said chances were less than five fucking percent!"

The moment I had tried to move, a figure dashed to me with such speed and force that I slammed into a wall far behind my back. My arms were pinned by his, completely useless. All I saw were his eyes, glowing red and piercing into mine. After recognizing those eyes, I caught the rest of him: his face, his dark bangs, his slashed Konoha forehead protector…

"Itachi?" I said in disbelief. He started at the name, along with everyone else I could see.

"Who are you?" Itachi ordered, his voice quiet and low.

"Itachi, don't use Mangekyou Sharingan right now." Another voice said, and my eyes grew wider as Pain, the leader of Akatsuki, came into view. Seeing him in person was much more intimidating than in the manga. Looking at me strangely, he seemed to be puzzled. "If necessary, you can do it later; we need to be able to question her at the moment. For now, let's use a better method of restraint." He said, and he looked at someone who moved in. Recognizing his crimson hair and autumn-colored eyes, I gasped as I was released from Itachi.

"Sasori," my voice couldn't help but utter my shock aloud. He raised an eyebrow as he moved closer, but then smirked. Reaching into his cloak, he took out a ring of wire and leaned in, but I moved away from the wall, especially freaked out.

"Uh, I don't know how I got here, or why the Akatsuki needs me, but I really have nothing to do with all this." I said, trying to make my intentions clear. But with my resisting of Sasori's binding, he grasped my neck and summoned a puppet to hold my arms apart. Using the wire, he tied my limbs to the puppet, tying it so tightly that it cut into my skin. Bleeding, I had trouble speaking; the wire cut into my neck.

"Your clothes are strange," Pain said, examining my fitted black cargo jacket, graphic white T-shirt, dark grey jeans, and black converse. "Where are you from?"

"I don't come from this world," I said, much more quietly to avoid further damage. "This isn't supposed to be real."

"What do you mean?" he demanded.

"I came from a world where you all are in a manga called Naruto!" I said, forgetting about keeping quiet. "You guys are made up by Kishimoto Masashi!"

I was going to have to get used to being stared at in this world. "What world do you come from?" Pain asked.

"Earth," I answered.

"Moron," another voice said, knocking my head as he came into view, his blonde hair and blue eyes as real as I could tell. "We are on Earth, idiot, un."

Coughing from the wire cutting deeper, I choked bitterly, "Well, sorry about that, Deidara; Kishimoto never mentioned it in his work. Where I come from, there are countries called the United States and China…"

"Strange names," Pain remarked. I sighed. This was going to take a while to explain.

**An Hour Later**

"So basically we're part of a fictional story that some Jackanese dude made up?" Hidan said.

"Japanese," I corrected.

"And you know about us because you watch the anime?" Kisame said, his blue face still puzzled.

"Yeah. And I read the manga." I answered.

"And you come from a world where chakra and jutsus don't exist." Pain said. "So, technically, you have none."

"Yeah," I said. He chuckled.

"What was Minato thinking, indeed…" he said to himself.

"Minato? The fourth Hokage?" I said, recognizing the name.

"Well, you see," Deidara started to explain. "The Fourth hid a summoning scroll that he said would be used to summon something more powerful than a Jinchuuriki. We have finally found it, and we used it to summon you, un."

"But the success rate was less than five percent," Kakuzu said, his white eyes looking at me.

"And since you have no chakra or jutsus, you are not physically stronger than any of the Jinchuuriki." Itachi said.

"But you are funny!" Tobi said. I was surprised he kept quiet for so long. "I like you! Can we keep her?"

Pain, who was still chuckling, looked at me with great amusement. "So, in other words, Minato is telling us that physical strength is not power here. Instead, he tells us that _knowledge_ is power. She knows things that, for us, are impossible to know."

"Wait…" I said, seeing where this was going.

"Join us," Pain said. "Become one of us."

"What happens if I don't want to?" I asked, nervous to hear the answer.

"We'll make you our comrade anyway," Pain replied. "Even if we have to force you."

_Then that leaves me with no choice,_ I thought, cornered. From the current situation, it seemed impossible to return to my world, and I would probably die if I refused. I didn't know what to do.

"I always liked the Akatsuki in the series." I said. "I always thought that you were mysterious and interesting. But I know what you guys are trying to do."

"Does that mean your answer is 'No'?" Pain asked.

"You guys are trying to take over the world," I pointed out.

"So, it's a 'No'?"

"I don't want to help kill people."

"It really is a 'No', then?"

"If you are going to kill innocent people and take over the world," I said.

"Fine, then." He said. "That works for us. We won't take over the world, nor will we kill anyone who doesn't try to kill us first. Does that sound alright?"

"Uh…"

"Is there anything else?"

"…." Somehow, this was making me sweat drop. "… No."

"So, you'll join us?"

Eye-twitching, I looked at all of them. They really did know how to set a contract, but somehow something wasn't right… Something told me that I was being cheated, but I had no choice. Right now it was either life or death. "Yes." I finally answered, yielding.

"Yay!" Tobi said as Sasori untied me. "We've got a new member!"

"It's about time we fill up another room; we have too many," Konan said, smiling at me, her kind grey eyes and blue hair even prettier in person.

As soon as I was free from the wire, my body fell forward; I had no strength or balance left. Landing my head on Sasori's shoulder, I looked at the small pool of blood below me.

"You overdid it, Sasori." Kisame said, though he was grinning. Zetsu, who had been staring at me in an uncomfortable way from the start, was now looking at the blood. I supposed he hadn't eaten yet today.

As I fought to keep consciousness, I realized what I was involuntarily leaning on and what would happen to him. Sasori, the human puppet, with a childhood so depressing that he lost nearly all emotion.

"Sasori," I said quietly into his ear. "How old are you?"

He was silent for a while, and I first thought that he was going to throw me off, but he answered. "I'm thirty-four."

_Thirty-four? _I did the math quickly. He had only a year left to live before he would be killed by his grandmother. And not only him, but Deidara, Itachi, Pain, Hidan, Kakuzu… they were all going to die.

"You... and the others… you're going to die." He pushed me off of him, his autumn-colored eyes piercing into mine.

"What is your name?" he said, his voice low and mellow.

"Akiyama… Saya." Losing balance, I fell forward again, but this time I fell into a different figure. Before my eyes drooped, I caught a glimpse of blonde hair and blue eyes.

**Akatsuki**

"You're just gonna let her join and that's it?" Hidan said to Pain in disbelief.

"If Leader says so, then it's fine." Deidara said, looking rather interestedly at the strange girl in his arms. Without further instructions, he carried her off to the rooms.

"But Sasori-senpai, you were too harsh," Tobi said to him. "I'll fix her injuries when she wakes up!" he volunteered.

"It seems that Sasori doesn't like the new girl," Kisame said, smirking.

"Shut up." Sasori said calmly.

"And apparently, we're all going to die." Hidan said, grinning. "Yeah, like I believe that shit; I'm fucking immortal!"

"It's not a laughing matter," Pain said. "If what she said was true, we need to avoid that at all costs. Our mission is to obtain the Jinchuuriki, not get annihilated."

Itachi said nothing. _So it's going to happen soon._ He had been expecting his death ever since the massacre of his clan.

"Ah, I don't want to die!" Tobi whined. "Leader, maybe she made a mistake?"

"Calm down, Tobi. If she gives us information and we take the proper measures, we won't die." Konan placed her hand on Pain's shoulder as he spoke. "This is indeed more important than just searching for another Jinchuuriki. Minato has given us a gift."

"In other words, she's our savior." said Itachi.

"A change in our fate," Sasori remarked.

"What, are all you going to bow down to her now and call her a god?" Kisame said, chuckling. "She's even younger than Deidara."

"She agreed to become one of us." said Kakuzu. "If she doesn't help us, then there's no point. And I'm not paying for her expenses—"

"Yeah, okay," Hidan cut him off, tired of hearing him talk about money. "At least I have someone who'll play with me other than you bast—"

"Alright, Hidan." Kisame interjected before an entire brawl would start. "I don't have a problem with her joining; she can be Tobi's partner."

"Awesome," Tobi said.

"How about Zetsu?" Konan suggested, looking at him. "Want a partner for once?"

"No!" Tobi insisted. "Saya's my partner! I've decided!"

"I work alone." Zetsu said.

"Just a suggestion," said Konan, sweat dropping at both of their reactions.

**Deidara**

She wasn't as heavy as I had expected, being a healthy-looking, growing teenage girl. Looking down at her sleeping face, I figured that she couldn't be older than sixteen or seventeen. Even though I was eighteen, she looked a lot younger than me, her face still smooth and golden. Her hair, black as night, was short and untidy, looking almost like a boy's, but it had a feminine elegance within its boyish carelessness. Behind her dark eyelashes, although covered now, were her reddish-brown eyes that seemed to dive into mine whenever she looked at me. She had an angular, lean body that wasn't thin or delicate, but definitely healthy-looking.

Asleep, she looked aesthetic, calm and pure. Awake, she was lively and had the youthful air of humor, so I never really thought her as beautiful until now. Maybe she was sometimes normal and sometimes pretty, depending on her state. I wondered how she smiled….

A while later, when I caught myself thinking about this the entire time, I wanted to kick myself.

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**Thanks for reading the first installment of my impromptu story-**

**NOTE: If you're not pretty updated with the manga, then you'll probably read some spoilers.**

**Reviews keep me interested and informed, so if you have any thoughts, please review.**

**A/N**

**I suppose Saya's story was pretty depressing... but I wrote it because many teenagers are in some way melancholy about their relationships with their friends/family. I know Saya's feelings pretty well in that case, and I made her like that to show how the Akatsuki, though considered evil in the original story, in some strange way, make her happier. This is what my story is about beneath the humor and romance, so I hope you understand the meaning and truly enjoy reading this story.**


	2. Welcome to the Akatsuki

**Hiroyuki Saya: Well, I was always impatient for new chapters of fanfics, so I'll try to update as often as possible.**

**Sasori: I hate waiting, and I hate to make others wait, so hurry and get to the story.**

**Deidara: Sasori no Danna, you're here too?**

**Hiroyuki Saya: Deidara, stop using Japanese terms; you'll confuse the English-readers.**

**Tobi: (enters) Konichiwa, mina-san!**

**Hiroyuki Saya: (vein popping) Tobi.... Well, everyone, I'll make sure to translate every Japanese term that I use in my story; I'll only use Japanese when necessary, so don't worry about it too much.**

**Tobi: Yeah, she'll only use Jackanese when it's necessary!**

**Saya: It's Japanese, dolt.**

**Tobi: (Ignores her) By the way, if you're not pretty updated with the manga, then be prepared to read some spoilers!**

**Hiroyuki Saya: But they only pertain to the Akatsuki, I promise. I won't give you any major spoilers that pertain to the main plot.**

**Sasori: Shut up and start it already.**

**Deidara: Okay, then I'll do the disclaimer: Hiroyuki Saya does not own Naruto; if she did, we would bribe her to give us his Kyuubi.**

**"JACKANESE" TERMS**

**_Sasori no Danna_: Master Sasori (most of the time danna means husband or patron, but in this case, Deidara means 'Master')**

**_Konichiwa, mina-san_!: Hello, everyone!**

**_Kyuubi_: Nine-tails**

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**P A R T O N E**

**Saya**

Waking up to total darkness, at first I thought my eyes were still closed. The mattress under me was unfamiliar and I suddenly sat up, groaning at the opened wounds on my limbs. The pain reminded me where I was and why I was here.

I searched through the dark to find a lamp and turn it on. The first thing I saw when I turned on the light was a person sleeping next to the bed, his head resting next to my left leg. Yelling, I backed into the bedpost and held the sheets in front of me.

"Ah, Saya-kun, you're awake?"

Lowering the bed sheets, I stared at Tobi, slightly relieved that it was him and not anyone scary. But when I realized what was under the mask, my relief suddenly turned to apprehension again. (A/N: prepare for Tobi spoiler)

"I came here to heal your injuries!" he said happily, holding a medical box. "Because Tobi is a good boy!"

"Uh," I said, looking at him strangely. I didn't know how to react to his falsely childish act. "I can do it myself."

"No, let Tobi do it for you!" he insisted, taking out a medicine. "I feel bad because Sasori-senpai was harsh."

"Tobi," I said, looking at my hands. "You can stop the act now."

"What are you talking about, Saya-kun?"

"Madara," Looking at him through his orange mask, I was slightly frightened to see what was behind it. "It's alright; you can relax. You don't have to pretend around me."

His hand, which had come to my neck to spread the medicine across my wound, instead grabbed it and pushed me back onto the bed, taking off his mask.

I winced at the pain and stared into his Sharingan eyes. He, like Tsunade, like Sasori, looked impossibly young for his age. His short black hair shaped his handsome grinning face.

"That knowledge of yours _is_ powerful," he remarked, his voice suddenly deeper. "I trust you'll keep this a secret."

"Absolutely," I said, terrified. "Y-You don't to worry, really! Your secret's safe with me."

He released my neck, but pushed me back down when I tried to get up again.

"It's easier this way," he said, not bothering to put his mask back on.

After he was done wrapping the injuries, his hand lingered on my neck. When it felt strangely like he was stroking it, I got up, avoiding his gaze. He was definitely doing this on purpose to annoy me.

"Then," he said, standing. "Let's go together, partner."

"Wait, what—" Horrified, I watched as he started to walk to the door. "Partner? Me? And you?"

"Yup," he said, turning around with that smirk on his face. "We're partners from now on, Saya-kun."

Staring after him as he placed his mask back on his face and walked out of the room, I had just processed what he said.

"WHAT?!"

**The Rest of the Akatsuki**

"Ah, it looks like she found out," Deidara said, grinning as they played poker in the living room.

"I would scream too," Kisame pointed out, placing down his cards.

"Poor Saya," Konan said, placing a new bouquet of flowers onto the table.

"That's why I didn't want her as a partner," said Zetsu, smirking as he placed the winning card onto the table. "I wanted to see how she would handle him."

"Fuck!" said Hidan as Zetsu took the round's bets.

"This is why I don't gamble," Kakuzu said as he passed by to get something to eat. "So I don't waste my precious money on stupid games."

"Shut up, fucking zombie."

"That, coming from _you_, Hidan—"

"Shut the fuck up, you fucking shark-face!"

**Saya**

Barging into the living room angrily after Tobi, I searched for Pain, who was sitting in an armchair, going through papers.

"Pain, I mean, Leader, why do I have to be paired up with Tobi?!"

"Why not?" he said, not taking his eyes off his papers.

"He's loud and annoying and strange and—" Feeling Madara's gaze through his mask from behind me, I stopped, sweat dropping. Somehow, I felt a murderous intent behind his mask.

"So? You can handle it." he said, clearly finished negotiating.

"L-Leader…" I lost hope as Tobi wrapped his arm around my neck.

"Don't worry, Saya-kun! We'll be good friends, because Tobi is a _good_ boy!" I wondered if anyone else could hear the underlying meaning in his words.

"Saya, come play with us." Deidara said, beckoning me over. "We need to crush Zetsu's winning streak."

"Ah, I don't have any money…" I said.

"I'll give you some of mine," Zetsu said, splitting a small portion of his winnings to a separate place on the table. "I take the challenge."

"Oh, you're playing poker?" I said, walking over. "I'm in!"

"Me too!" exclaimed Tobi.

As soon as we sat down, Konan came over. "Saya-chan," she said, bringing me a tray of sandwiches, "You must be hungry."

Baffled by her motherly kindness, I took a sandwich, feeling rather awkward now. "Thanks."

"I'll take one too!" Tobi said, trying to grab one off the tray when Konan pulled it out of his reach.

"Want to die?" she asked in a voice that suddenly turned dark and threatening. Then she smiled again and turned away, leaving both Tobi and me scared to death.

"Tobi," I said, still recovering from her death glare. "You can have half of mine," I ripped it and handed it to him, feeling just a bit sorry for him.

"Thanks, Saya-kun," he said, gloomy.

**Itachi**

Sasori knelt next to me under a tree in the practice area. After a day's training using Sharingan against him, I needed rest. I looked at his face, wondering how it felt to live as a puppet, physically and almost emotionally feeling nothing. Strangely, his usually unchanged face was tenser today. He, who was always calm and unmoved, seemed slightly preoccupied.

"Sasori-san," I said. "You were more violent than usual today. What's on your mind?"

Although I was his closest comrade in the Akatsuki, he still hesitated before answering. "Saya…" he spoke. "She has unsightly eyes. It feels like she's piercing into my past whenever she looks at me." He threw a kunai to an opposite tree.

"So you hate her?" I asked.

He stayed silent for a while, his face still that of his fifteen-year-old self, though he was nearly twenty years older. I didn't mind the silence; we got along pretty well since we were both antisocial and comfortable not speaking in each other's presence.

"It's just… I'm not used to it." He finally said, his emotionless face staring ahead. "Don't worry, I won't kill her." But when I looked at him, his eyes remained resolute, almost with a murderous intent that made me reconsider his assurance.

For some strange reason, I, like he, couldn't take my mind off her. _What is it_, I asked myself. _Curiosity? Lust? Whim? No, it's not any of those._

_Then what is it?_

**Saya**

"Goddamnit!" Hidan watched as the last of his small pile was taken away by Zetsu once again. He threw his cards down. "I quit."

Deidara grabbed my head and started strangling me. "Oi, rookie, you're not helping us at all!"

"Ow—Stop it—" Choking and feeling my wound starting to open again, I tried to escape from Deidara's arms. "Creepy—mouth hands—"

When he suddenly stopped and let go, I knew something was wrong. "_Creepy_?" he said, his eye-twitching. I could hear Kisame, Tobi, and Hidan snickering as he turned me around to see his evil glare. His palms were in my face with their mouths moving so fast they looked like they could chop my head off. "_You think my hands are creepy, **un**?"_

I drew back at the scary sight, terrified. "Ah, th-that's not what I meant! S-Seriously!"

"_I use these hands to create my clay bombs, to create art!_" His nose was nearly shoved against mine as he got in my face. "_How dare you insult my beautiful hands, you insolent…_" I leaned back in fright. "_Little_…" I cowered under his glare. "…_**Baby**__._" My back hit the wall as his eyes pierced into mine. I wanted to crawl into a corner. He was about to attack any moment...

Terrified for my life, I quickly used the groveling method. "Your art is really cool, you know, like the way it goes BAKAN when you blow stuff up! Ha, ha, ha," Thinking fast to remember how it was in the manga, I made the hand seal he used. "And when you go," Covering half of my face with my hair and imitating his expression, I said, "KATSU!"

Kisame, Hidan, and Tobi fell over laughing, and even Zetsu chuckled.

"That—was—_perfect_!" said Hidan, clutching his side.

"D-Do it again!" Kisame and Tobi insisted.

"Flawless," added Zetsu, grinning at me for the first time.

Deidara, who had a pulsating vein on his forehead, said, "It's not _that_ funny! Oi, stop laughing…" When they carried on, two more veins popped on his head. "SHUT UP, YOU BUMS! I'LL BLOW YOU UP!"

That made me laugh, but when his scary face turned to me, I immediately stopped.

"And _you_," he said, his expression dangerous as his face was in mine again. "You do that again and I'll rape you until you can't sit anymore."

This time, Zetsu laughed and Hidan, Tobi, and Kisame encouraged me to do it again, even more determined now. _These guys are definitely sadists,_ I realized, scared for my life.

"Deidara, are you by any chance trying to soil Saya-chan's mind?" Konan walked into the living room along with Itachi and Sasori, her face looking menacing though her voice was sweet. She reminded me of a scary, overprotective older sister.

"Nope, not at all," he said, rubbing the back of his neck innocently. Apparently, everyone was terrified of Konan, as the only woman in the Akatsuki.

"Now, now, don't tarnish her so quickly." Pain said, still sitting in his armchair and looking through papers. "She's only a kid."

"You used to call _me_ a kid!" Deidara pointed out.

"That's because you were," he replied. "By the way, you still are, though you were never innocent…"

Kakuzu, who had been eating his dinner the whole time, snorted when Pain made his point.

It seemed like Deidara was close to losing his sanity. Looking to Tobi for help, I urged him to do something. If Deidara took any more abuse, then all of his anger and violence would fall upon _me_. Tobi seemed to take the hint.

"So, Saya-kun," Tobi said, changing the subject. "You said you read the manga before? Who was your favorite Akatsuki member?"

I gaped at him. ".... Eh?" It took me a while to process what he just said, but when I did, I panicked. Tobi wasn't fixing things _at _all—he was making them worse! I had a sinking feeling that Madara was doing this on purpose.

"Uh..." I said nervously, suddenly realizing that the entire Akatsuki was in the room now. "Erm... I don't like to make favorites, so..." Laughing nervously, I looked at each of their faces, which all had the same look.

"Liar."

I cowered into a corner as they all moved in, about to attack. It was coming any second...

"Tell us!" Konan insisted, hugging me close.

"Yeah, Saya-kun! Tell Tobi!" Tobi said.

Hidan's face leveled with mine, his face looking extremely threatening, but then Deidara pushed him aside.

"It's me, right?" he asked, his previous irritation gone. "Since you like my clay art, hn?"

Kisame, who was looking over Deidara's shoulder, grinned. "Hey, you liked me, right? I was one of the Seven Swordsmen, and I have my awesome Samehada. And I'm _blue_—"

"Kid, I'll give you money if you pick me," Kakuzu said, looking behind Deidara's other shoulder. Everyone stared at him in disbelief. "Okay, maybe I won't, but..."

**The Other, Not so Pathetic Akatsuki**

Although Sasori, Itachi, and Zetsu remained stoic, they were unconsciously curious to see who was the personal favorite of Saya, the innocent new kid. No one said it, but her addition drew everyone's attention. Pain, although looking quite interested, still didn't take his eyes off his work.

Zetsu's dark side was purely curious, but his light side was annoyed at his own thoughts. _I… for some reason, I want her favorite to be me…_ A vein pulsated on his forehead as he was frustrated with his involuntary desire.

**Back to the Predators and the Prey**

"If you don't pick me, I'll have Jashin curse you!" Hidan threatened.

"I'll make you dinner for a week!" insisted Tobi.

"Hey, Saya-chan," said Konan, winking. "It's me, right? We're both girls, after all…"

Quickly scanning everyone, I knew I had to make a decision, but I couldn't. Which would be the best choice, the one that would get the least people angry?

Then I spotted him through all the other members, minding his own business.

"Leader!" I declared, wondering why I didn't think of it before. No one could argue with him, since he _was_ the leader. "My favorite is Pain!"

Everyone had turned around to look at Pain, who finally looked up from his work. "Oh, it's me?" he said, amused as he looked slightly smug. "Well, that's how it is, everyone."

"But… Isn't Tobi a good boy?" Tobi's face fell, upset.

"Nagato? Well, at least you have great taste…" Konan said, grinning. "Sorry, but I'm not going to give him to you, Saya-chan."

"It-It's not like that!" I insisted, embarrassed. "I think of him as a…" Trying to think of nonsense to back up my choice, I finally said, "… A sort of _fatherly_ figure."

Oh, if only I had known what I had started back then….

Tobi, who had been brooding, suddenly lit up. "So he's 'Papa'?" he said, excited. "Papa!"

"Call me that again, and I'll kick you out," said Pain, his voice still smug from my choice.

"We're all like one, big, _family_!" Tobi exclaimed. I simply gaped at him.

We were all thinking it, but Hidan was the one who said it.

"Oh, _fuck no_."

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**I hope you had as much fun reading it as I did while writing it**


	3. Home Sweet Home

**Chapter 3 focuses partially on the setting and the Akatsuki base description to give you an image of what Saya's environment looks like.**

**NOTE: May contain Akatsuki spoilers, not really important to the plot, but just a warning**

**I do not own Naruto; if I did, I would be broke from buying him ramen every day.**

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**Saya**

Night had already fallen long before Kisame, Kakuzu, Hidan, Pain, and Konan returned to their rooms to rest. I knew that I should rest to heal my injuries, but somehow, I couldn't bring myself to go to bed. I felt that if I did, I really would have to accept that I had become a part of the Akatsuki.

Walking outside, I felt the midnight breeze softly flow past my face. I looked at the dark sky, seeing the same stars as in the other world. Spotting the full moon, I started to believe that the saying, '_Strange things happen during a full moon_' was true.

I looked around, realizing that I was outside in this world for the first time. The Akatsuki base was invisible unless one looked carefully; it was shaped into a small round cliff, looking almost like a large rock, and extended to the land behind the cliff. A silent waterfall fell from the rock, flowing into a stream that ran from the clearing where the base was located through the surrounding forest. The picture was so natural; one would never think ten S-rank shinobi would live inside it. Now that I looked at the scenery, it was quite beautiful.

"Does your world have places like this?" a smooth voice asked, and I spun around, alarmed. Itachi might have been resting beneath the maple tree ever since I had come outside. His stealth put me at unease; or maybe I was just oblivious in his opinion. He looked at the stars, his hair slightly flowing in the breeze. I was taken aback by how perfectly he fit into the night scene.

It took me a while to remember that he had asked me a question. "It has few places like this anymore," I replied. "I can't exactly describe it in words. This place seems almost surreal compared to the place I knew."

"You make your world sound dreary."

"Perhaps," I said. "But… it has some things that might seem impossible in this world, just like this world has things impossible in the other world." I looked at his eyes, wondering what he could see with them. "Itachi… how bad has your eyesight gotten?"

He didn't answer; his startled expression lasted only a moment. "How much about me do you know?"

"There's something called laser surgery where I come from," I said, ignoring his last question. "It can make your eyes right again."

Apparently he wasn't used to being ignored, because he just looked at me, half-baffled, half-amused by my daring. His Sharingan appeared as he looked keen to teach me a lesson, and I regretted it right away.

"Ah, I didn't mean to disrespect you or anything," I added quickly. "It's just… I feel uncomfortable around you."

When he didn't speak for a while, I thought I had made him angry. But he answered, "I was sent here to keep watch on you, but now that I've confirmed your consent, my work is done." With that, he disappeared into the forest.

_They thought I was going to run away?_ Well, it's not like I could. Every movement I made would be noticed by Zetsu's long-range vision, and every single member of the Akatsuki was far more intelligent than I. Not to mention they were all stronger and faster by at least a tenfold. Running away was definitely not an option. And even if I could, I wouldn't… I thought of him, the one I that I had liked ever since I first saw his character in the series.

Sitting beneath the tree Itachi had rested under, I gazed at the night for as long as possible, prolonging the picture…

**Sasori**

She was alone, resting under the maple tree overlooking the small river. Unconsciously I walked over to her, staring at her sleeping face. My hand moved by itself, aiming to grasp her neck, to silence her right there. I hated her eyes that seemed to know me too well. I hated her body, so breakable without chakra or shinobi strength; it was unsightly for a human puppeteer. But what I hated the most was the fact that I couldn't take my mind off her.

Deciding that I would face Pain's anger later, I began to satiate my bloodlust. Never before had I been this determined to kill.

I was about to strangle her when her face fell onto my hand, and I stopped. _Once again, she leans onto me._

No one had ever touched me before other than in battle, not since the death of my parents. It was odd, seeing her face lit with content as she involuntarily touched me, almost as if she liked it.

I drew my hand back, letting her face fall forward. _How foolish_, I told myself. _Only weak humans feel the desire to be touched by others._

After one last attempt to understand her content expression, I vanished into the night.

**Deidara**

200 meters away from where Saya and Sasori were, I observed them through my left eye's scope. When Sasori had left Saya, my hand retreated from my bag of clay. Even if it was Sasori no Danna who wanted to kill her, I would have to stop him. Leader would not have been pleased if she was murdered by one of his own.

_Un_, I told myself. _It's not like I care if she dies or not; it's all for Leader's sake._

Even though I convinced myself of this, I drew closer until I had Saya in my normal eyesight and rested on a tree branch. Watching her was now necessary, since situations like Sasori's were now possible.

I gazed at her sleeping figure in the calm night scenery.

_She really does look different when she's sleeping._

**Saya**

I awoke, the morning sunlight beaming through my eyes. The tree felt comfortable on my head and back, but I pulled my jacket tighter onto me; I was cold from last night. The stream was gleaming now, looking clear and pure as it flowed through the forest. The leaves of the maple tree were bright red, and I marveled at their beauty.

"Finally awake, Chibi*?" Deidara leaped onto rocks in the stream over to my side, landing in front of me.

"Deidara?" I said, squinting a little; his blonde hair was even brighter with the sunlight, and his blue eyes shone. "What are you doing here?"

"'What am I doing here?' You little—" he grabbed my head again and started strangling. "I just went through a sleepless night because I had to keep watch over you and you ask me why I'm here, _un_?"

"My mistake!" I choked, hoping this wasn't going to become a routine. "I made a stupid mistake!"

He let go, still unsatisfied. Then he pointed to the ground. "Bow to me and call me _Master_."

The words came out before I could control myself. "What? No!"

When his eye twitched and his creepy mouth-hands came towards me again, I suddenly realized what I had done.

_Crap…_

The next thing I knew, I was thrown into the air, falling into the stream, which thankfully happened to be very deep, almost like a river. My body sank several feet beneath the surface before I floated to the top again, breathing heavily. He knelt beside me on the bank, his expression menacing. His strength was even scarier in real life.

"Next time, I'll keep your head underwater until you beg me for air, hn."

I sank back underneath the surface, wanting to escape from his abuse. _Why me?_

Staying underwater, I wondered why I was being tormented so. What had I done wrong? But the worst part was that he could do all of these things to me, and I still couldn't hate him. What was it?

**Deidara**

I waited for her to return to the surface, but it didn't happen. Then it hit me. _Don't tell me she can't swim._ Before I could think, I tossed my cloak aside and dived in.

**Saya**

The surface rippled as he jumped into the water and swam towards me. At first I thought he was going to attack, and I tried to rip out of his grip, but his hand grasped tightly around my arm, pulling me to the surface.

As we went up, I realized that this was it. This was why I couldn't hate him.

He shoved me onto the bank and breathed heavily, dripping.

"You should've told me you couldn't swim, baka*!" he said.

"You didn't give me any time to speak!" I defended. "And I _can_ swim! You just jumped to conclusions; I was only down there for a few seconds!"

"A few seconds my ass!" he grabbed my jacket collar, his other hand still holding my forearm. "Next time you drown, I'll kill you!"

"I said I _wasn't_ drowning—"

"Jeez, you're so easy to kill," he said, ignoring my last comment. "If you died, I'd be responsible, and then Leader would get pissed at me. Treasure your life more!"

"_You_ were the one who threw me into—"

"Ah, just stop talking," he started strangling me again. "Your talking pisses me off."

Reconsidering my incapability to hate him, I thought, _I think I might die soon…._

**The other Akatsuki**

When Saya and Deidara entered the living room through the door behind the waterfall, everyone stared at them.

"Did you guys take a bath together or something?" Hidan asked, grinning at the annoyed looks on their faces.

"That's not fair!" Tobi complained. "You guys took one without me!"

"We didn't," said Saya, her eye twitching.

"Saya was drowning in the river, so I got her out." Deidara answered, tossing his dry cloak over his back.

"I _wasn't_ drowning!" she countered. "He threw me in!"

"How gentleman-like," Kisame teased, making Deidara even more annoyed.

"Why are you so loud this early in the morning?" The irritation in Sasori's voice as he entered was enough to control the noise level. No one liked to get Sasori angry.

"My bad, Sasori no Danna," said Deidara. "Saya and I got a little wet playing around outside."

"That sounds so perverted when you say it," remarked Kisame, and Hidan snorted. My cheeks turned scarlet, though I willed myself to try to stop the blood from flowing through them.

"So," I said, changing the subject. "Where's everyone? Leader, Konan, Itachi, Kakuzu, and Zetsu… they're all missing."

"Itachi and Kakuzu left for a mission last night." said Hidan, looking rather annoyed that he wasn't chosen.

"Zetsu's still sleeping; he's almost nocturnal." Kisame explained to me.

"And Leader and Konan are probably still in their room, doing_ those_ things!" said Tobi, looking excited at the thought. _Yup_, I thought. _The Akatsuki are definitely sadistic perverts_.

"_What _exactly are we still doing?" Konan asked in her frighteningly sweet voice as she and Pain walked into the room.

"He, he, he," Tobi scratched his head. "Nothing at all, Konan-san."

"Well, I'm out," Hidan jumped off the kitchen counter and started walking to the door, his triple-bladed scythe secured on his back. "I'm going to the village to pick up a few things."

"We're leaving as well," Pain said, and he and Konan left without another word, placing their Akatsuki kasa* onto their heads. Of course, Leader never needed to give an explanation for where he was going or when he would be back.

The base now seemed fairly empty compared to before. "Is it always like this?" I asked.

"Yeah," Deidara answered. "Usually we're never all together. Yesterday was different because of the summoning ritual; we all needed to be in the same place to perform it, un."

"That was a pain," said Kisame. "'Course Minato would leave us an extremely hard summoning ritual that would need us to be all together; how disappointing, I came here all the way from the Lightning Country just to summon a kid."

I didn't really know what to say to that, so I made an excuse to leave. "I, erm, have to change." Leaving the room, I walked down the hallway, trying to remember which room was mine. Since I was new, my room had to be the farthest away from the main area. After a while, I randomly chose a door on the right. Once I went through the door, I knew that I entered the wrong room.

The walls were teal, and the only thing I remembered about my room was that the walls were ivory. Five puppets were sitting against the different walls, thankfully with their eyes closed. On the black desk were books, hand tools, and puppet parts, and the closet door in the back was open, revealing another entire room of puppets. There was no question to whose room this was. Other than the puppets, the room was strangely empty. Sasori had no bed, since he didn't need to sleep in his puppet body, and his bathroom remained unused.

"What are you doing in my room?"

I jumped at his voice, turning. His autumn eyes, piercing into mine, were cold and irritated. Even now, I was in awe of his attractive, mellow voice. His voice actor in the anime, Takahiro Sakurai, was extremely famous for his voice, and I couldn't believe that Sasori, as a real person, had it.

"I, uh, that's… um…" I couldn't think straight, my thoughts still on his voice.

"The naïve child speaks like one as well," he remarked. Walking closer, he moved so quickly that I didn't even see his arms as I was thrown out of his room. "If you come into my room again, I'll make you into a human puppet." With that, he closed the door.

_It doesn't look like we'll be friends anytime soon,_ I thought, walking to the next door on the right. Entering through the right room this time, I closed the door behind me, sighing.

The opposite wall was glass, becoming one huge window. It was hard to imagine that the Akatsuki could afford to be so open, but I quickly discarded the thought, completely caught in the view. The sight was surreal, revealing a lake nearby surrounded by a meadow, and around the meadow were red maple and sakura trees. In the distance, snowy mountains stood, and the hills extended beyond eyesight. Surely nowhere in the previous world was this beautiful.

I remembered back to the manga, when the Hidden Rain village was supposed to be where an Akatsuki's base was located, but this definitely not the same place. Then I remembered Sasori's room, where the window was normal-sized, so I didn't notice the outdoor scenery. Was my room the only one like this?

The layout was otherwise pretty normal; the bed was on the far right corner, the head at the glass. There were two doors on the left; the nearer one for the bathroom and the next one for the walk-in closet. To my immediate right were a dark brown desk and a matching chair, standing on a silver-grey carpet.

Curious, I walked over to the closet, opening the door. Surprisingly, it wasn't empty; I supposed Konan had prepared it when I wasn't in the room. Standard shinobi and Japanese-cultured clothes were folded on the opposite shelf, clean and new. She even set aside cloth and hand-knitting tools for me to use if I wanted to make clothes from my own world.

Taking off my partially dried socks and Converse, I spotted two new pairs of open-toed boots—the standard shinobi shoes—and a pair of zori sandals. Choosing the boots, I placed them by the door and started stripping my wet foreign clothes. There was a netted under armor that most of the Akatsuki wore, but I wasn't into that style. Searching through the clothes, I hoped to find something I wouldn't feel strange in, but all I could find were netted clothing, black and navy male kimonos each with its own hakama* and haori*, and for some strange reason, a bright red furisode* kimono.

Finally, as I opened the bottom drawer of a shelf, I found two T-shirts, red and black, and three long-sleeved shirts, navy, grey, and black. I sighed in relief as I pulled the black long-sleeved shirt over my head, finding it a loose fit, with the sleeves two or three centimeters too long. After pulling on the dark Shinobi pants and stepping into the shoes, I looked at myself in the inner-door mirror. Strangely enough, these simple, conservative clothes seemed to suit me.

I walked back into my room, looking out the back wall window. _Now what?_ I didn't particularly want to return to the living room, but what was I going to do here?

"SAYA-KUN!" I jumped as Tobi opened the door, slamming it against the wall.

"Don't do that!" I said, my heartbeat steadily slowing. Sometimes Madara acted as Tobi so well that I wondered if they were two different people in the same body.

"Sorry, partner," he said, closing the door and taking off his mask. Sitting on my bed, he averted his eyes to the wall-sized window. "This is one of the only places I can relax."

"Why?" I asked. _Was it the view?_

"Only you, Pain, Zetsu, and Itachi know my identity." He answered. "I can be myself when we're alone, though it's not so great revealing my identity to a brat like you."

"I'm not a brat!" I defended. Why did everyone here insist that I was a child? Everyone in the previous world treated me as an adult.

"You're right," he said. "You're actually just trash, but to me, you're a kid."

_Oh, right,_ I remembered, my eye twitching, disregarding the insult. _He'd be about the same age as the first Hokage, if the First were still alive._ Technically, he was an extremely old grandpa, yet here he was, sitting before me, looking no older than thirty.

"At least this is convenient," he said, grinning at me. "We're _partners_, after all."

Every time he repeated that word to me, I wanted to throw something; even as Madara, he still completely irritated and tormented me.

"So you came here just to take your mask off?" I figured, sitting on the bed next to him. His eyes were still on me, and I immediately regretted the proximity between us that I had just made.

"Actually, I'm supposed to give you a tour of the base and its grounds." He replied, grimacing. "Without Pain, Zetsu, or Itachi here, the others can order me around to do what they want; it's rather vexing. But," he stood, pulling my arm with him. "Since we have to do this anyway, let's make it interesting."

After he placed his mask back on, I was dragged out of the safe quarters of my room.

It turned out that my room was one of the last of the rooms in the dorm, and the hallway ended just ten or twenty meters down to the right. To the left, we passed by everyone's room, with Tobi briefly naming the member whose room we passed as we walked down the corridor. Deidara's room was across from mine, and Zetsu's was next to his. When we entered the large living room, Kisame and Zetsu were watching a movie to the right, and Deidara was standing in the kitchen to the left, downing a milk carton with the fridge door still open. He was wearing a white long-sleeved shirt and a spare of his usual pants, and everyone else was wearing comfortable clothes rather than the usual mission attire. The front door was straight ahead, where one would enter behind the waterfall, and another hallway extended sideways between the door and the living room. Tobi led me to the hall on the left, where a practice area and the special room that I was summoned in stood. Then we went to the right, encountering the baths and the storage room.

"That's it?" I said as we went back to the living room.

"I think it's a pretty big place," Tobi pointed out. "What else do we need?"

"I don't know… shouldn't Leader have his own office or something?"

"All of his business-related things are in the Hidden Rain," he replied. "Our base there is bigger, but not as pretty. Everything we've been building since our foundation is there. Right now, he's most likely going there for his work and subordinates. You could call this one our 'recreational home'."

"Like a vacation home?" I offered.

"Nah, we have a different vacation home," Deidara cut in, tossing the empty milk carton in the trash. "This is our private base; no one knows its location but us members."

"How many bases do you have?" I asked, dumbfounded. "Where do you get all that money?"

"Well, Kakuzu for a start," said Kisame. "And Leader owns the Hidden Rain village; that with all of our individual earnings makes plenty enough to buy us ten vacation homes."

"I didn't even know the Akatsuki had vacations," I said, sweat dropping.

"Whenever we're not on missions for a while, one or two of us will stay there," Kisame explained. "It's actually pretty close; we could go there anytime you want."

"You still unsatisfied, Saya-kun?" asked Tobi. I could feel a grin behind that orange mask.

"It's not that I'm unsatisfied…."He misunderstood what I was trying to say, but I just forgot about it. Lost for words, I walked over to the kitchen, feeling hungry for the first time in this world. I opened the huge refrigerator door, eager for food, but stopped dead. The entire door was filled with beer cans, beer bottles, sake bottles, and packets containing liquid that looked unsettlingly like blood. "_Who drinks all of this?!"_

"Well," Kisame scratched his head. "Mainly Hidan and I do, but we get help every once in a while, right, Deidara?"

"I don't drink," he said. I stared at him in disbelief. Could he, an S-class missing-nin, possibly care about abiding by drinking laws? "The way it makes one act is unsightly, so inartistic…" Sweat dropping, I should have known; he didn't give a crap about minor drinking laws.

"And Zetsu," I turned to him, holding a packet of type-A blood. "I thought you only ate humans! Don't tell me you're a vampire, too…"

"I like human blood," he said, shrugging. "It tastes better than alcohol."

Making a mental note never to bleed in front of Zetsu, I turned back to the fridge, now looking at the main shelves. This time I saw cakes, pies, and other pastries taking up half the shelves.

"Who eats all of this sweet stuff?!" Even with ten people, these sweets were too much.

"I eat all of them," said Tobi happily. "Oh, but Itachi eats the dango and Konan sometimes helps me eat the cake."

Wondering why Tobi wasn't a fat old man, I returned to the fridge once again, desperately searching for some normal food. When I found eggs and cheese on the shelves beneath the pastries, I sighed in relief. But then I noticed that there were at least ten egg cartons and five different kinds of cheese blocks.

_Who's going to eat all of this?_ Before I could even ask, Deidara was behind me, looking in the fridge as well.

"Those are Kakuzu's," he said. "He's been obsessed with getting his calcium, since he's an old geezer. Those vegetables under that are his, too." Sure enough, beneath _those_ shelves were rows of tomatoes, peppers, carrots, lettuce, daikon, potatoes, and onions.

"Jeez," I said. _Talk about prolonging life; first he gets five hearts, and now he's a diet freak._

The refrigerator was starting to run out of shelves; I scanned the lowest ones for any sign of hope. Surely enough, I spotted tofu, preserved natto, and a package of meat along with a few apples. _Aha_.

Grinning in victory, I took all of the ingredients out and looked for pots and pans, pinning my bangs back.

**Kisame**

All of us stared as she boiled a pot of water, placed the natto on the kitchen table, and checked the rice cooker.

"Deidara, you already made rice?" she asked.

"… Un," he replied, splitting the rice into three bowls on the table and returning to watch her strangely. She then opened a packet of instant miso soup, poured it into the boiling pot, and added tofu. She threw eggs, peppers, onions, and cheese into a pan and poured milk into the mix as she started flipping, seasoning two or three times before sliding the steaming omelet onto a plate.

We simply gaped at the table, on it a rice breakfast complete with miso soup, natto, and a vegetable omelet, made in about five minutes.

"It's nothing extravagant," she said, grinning and giving us the thumbs up. "But I'm used to making my own food pretty quickly."

Something like this was so normal to common families, but to us, it was unheard of. Though uncertain at first, Saya, Deidara, and I sat at the table, saying, "Itadakimasu,*" and beginning to eat.

_This… this is kind of nice._

**Zetsu**

Watching them with the smallest hint of loneliness, I sat at the table. Never before had I desired to eat human food—that was, until now.

"Zetsu-san?" said Tobi, clearly puzzled by my sitting at the table.

"I just felt like sitting," I said, not able to think of an excuse. _You just want to eat with Saya_, my dark side remarked.

_Shut up,_ I said. _I don't want to eat that. Sitting just seemed like fun._

_Go ahead and try the food. Eat it._

My hand suspended above the omelet. I really wanted to try it, but yielding to the dark side would hurt my pride.

"Zetsu-san?" Deidara noticed my shaking hand, the slightest hint of worry in his voice.

Eye-twitching, I stared at the egg. _It's so…. yellow._

…_. MAH, I can't take it anymore!_

"Ah!" I said, pointing to the TV. Kisame was intensely enthusiastic about the movie we were watching. "The main character just died!"

"WHAT?" said Kisame, and they all turned to the movie while I stole the omelet.

_I knew you would do it_, my dark side thought, smirking.

_It's good,_ I thought, ignoring him.

"AH!" Saya said, looking at the empty plate and then at my chewing mouth. "My omelet!"

"No, omelet!" Deidara called to the omelet in my mouth as if it were alive.

"Zetsu-san, that was a dirty trick!" said Kisame, but he was rather relieved that the protagonist of the movie didn't actually die.

"You stingy cannibal!" Saya whined. "I thought you only ate humans!"

"Gochisosama,*" I said, leaving the kitchen and walking out the front door, feeling smug.

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**Chibi - Literally means Mini or Baby; Deidara's referring to before, when Saya accidentally insulted his hands**

**Baka - Idiot, Moron (I'm going to use this term often; it goes with the flow better than English words)**

**Akatsuki kasa - the straw hat customized to the Akatsuki members with the white fabric and beads.**

**hakama - the hakama is worn over the male kimono; it's a split skirt (Ever see Rurouni Kenshin? It's the thing Kenshin wears over his pants)**

**haori - a long jacket that goes with the male kimono**

**furisode - a type of kimono made for young maidens, usually very colorful and intricate**

**Itadakimasu - Literally means "I will receive"; it's traditionally said before eating a meal in Japan**

**Gochisosama - "Thanks for the food"; it's traditionally said after eating a meal in Japan**

**Dang, I used a lot of Japanese terms in this one. I hope it wasn't too inconvenient for anyone.**


	4. Interrogation

**Saya: I don't know if you've noticed, but when I mention a character's name, I write the surname before the given name.**

**Kisame: Since the names are Japanese, we felt it was right to say them the Japanese way.**

**Deidara: At least Tobi's not here to screw 'Japanese' up again. Alright then, you, person. Yes, you. Review this chapter. Saya's been checking every freaking spare moment to see if she's gotten any new reviews.**

**Saya: I was NOT. But I really appreciate reviews; they help me see if people read and like my story or not. A writer is nothing without readers. Suggestions and corrections are always welcome.**

**Kisame: By the way, this chapter is short compared to the last one, so Saya will try to update soon.**

**Deidara: And this one has some serious moments, so you drama-lovers have fun.**

**Kisame: THAT'S ME! Oh, and Saya does not own Naruto; if she did, she'd be a millionaire and then Kakuzu would marry her.**

**Kakuzu and Saya: .....**

**kunai* - shinobi throwing knife**

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**Itachi**

On the way back to the base, I thought about what Pain had asked me to do the night before.

**Flashback**

"Itachi," he said in his low voice. We were on the cliff, watching her. "I want you to look after Saya."

I stared at him, saying nothing.

"Madara has already made her his partner to keep her under protection," he continued. "But, as you, Zetsu, and I know, he cannot constantly stay by her side, as he is actually busier than I am. She is a gift, but one that is easily broken in this world, and you are the strongest in the Akatsuki other than Madara and me. This is a request, not only from me, but from Madara as well."

"Why keep her?" I asked him. "Why, when you know that I or Madara could easily extract all of the information from her mind and dispose of her?"

"We both have thought about that option," he answered. "But since she comes from another world, the only way to extract _all_ of the useful information is to read and analyze her entire mind's history, and even the Sharingan cannot do that. And besides," the corner of his lips upturned slightly. "Madara is fond of her."

"That's not everything that Madara's thinking," I added. "He knows that if word spreads of Saya's existence, all of the shinobi villages will seek to find her. He wants to use her as a power source as well."

"Your sharpness never ceases to impress me," he remarked. "I also want you to be the one to interrogate Saya; it doesn't matter if you have another member with you."

"You seem to be relying on me greatly for her sake," I observed.

He smirked, looking at me. "You and Madara are similar," he explained. "You also have an interest in her, though you are young and too stubborn to admit it."

I took that as all he had to say and began to leave before I would get aggravated.

"Itachi," he said as I walked away. I stopped but didn't turn around. "There is one more thing: I want you to train her. She needs to learn the basics so she can at least defend herself, even if she has no chakra. I'm counting on you."

**End of Flashback**

Kakuzu and I were close to the base now.

"Itachi," he said. "About what Leader wanted to talk to you before we left… is it really bothering you that much?"

Startled, I avoided his gaze. "It's nothing," I replied, hurrying ahead of him.

"Ah, I've made him mad," he muttered to himself, but I heard.

**Saya**

Eye-twitching as I stood in the shallow part of the river, holding a net, I wondered how I got into this state.

_"We've decided that you're going to make us dinner tonight." exclaimed Deidara, pointing his finger at me after we finished breakfast._

_"Wait—"_

_"Yeah, go catch us some fish," Kisame handed me a fish net and pointed to the door._

_"Why me?!" I said, furious._

_Deidara leaned in, his face menacing. I whimpered as I remembered his threat from earlier. "Do you have a problem with that? Huh?" he challenged in his loud voice._

_"N-N-Not at all," I replied, dashing for the door._

_"I'll go with you, Partner!" said Tobi by my side._

_"Catch us some sushi, Saya-kun!" Kisame called after me._

_"Baka, sushi fish is from the ocean." But when he started flaring, I quickly shut the door behind me._

And that's the story. Tobi was on the cliff, watching me from above, apparently entertained.

"Help me, you freaking orange-face!" I snapped at him. I was having much trouble trying to catch any fish at all, and I didn't even have any abilities to help me.

"But Deidara-senpai said that you had to do it!" he said in his mockingly childish voice. "Sa-ya-_kun_."

Fuming, I knew that Madara was provoking me on purpose, and I started attacking the water, searching for the stupid fish.

"Ah, Baka Fish, come out already!" I shouted, splashing the water everywhere and waving my net around. But I suddenly came to a dead stop when I saw Itachi and Kakuzu standing on the bank, staring at me. "Ha, ha, ha, ha," Scratching the back of my head, I wanted to disappear. Two of the few sane members in the Akatsuki now thought I was a psycho.

Suddenly Itachi threw a kunai* at my feet. "Hiiie!" I lifted my foot in time, at first startled that he was attacking me, but the kunai had pinned down a fish to the river bottom. I picked up the knife, feeling extremely awkward standing ankle-deep in water holding a dead fish in front of Itachi and Kakuzu. "… Thanks."

Without another word, Kakuzu went behind the waterfall to enter the base, but Itachi stayed where he was.

"Saya-kun, come with me." I put the fish in a bag and walked to him, wondering where we were going.

"I'll go, too!" said Tobi, jumping down from the cliff and joining us.

_Don't follow us_, I thought, sweat dropping.

Itachi led us through the forest and into a large clearing.

"Uh, what are we doing?" I asked, nervous. Madara took off his mask, his Sharingan revealed. At first I wondered why he was being so laid-back, but then I remembered that Itachi knew everything about him already.

"We're going to start the interrogation," said Itachi, his Sharingan visible as well. "I'll start with a question, and you tell us the answer. Meanwhile, we'll be looking into your mind for the visual information."

"We'll be able to see everything going on in your mind with our Sharingan," added Madara, smirking. "You won't be able to hide anything from us, so don't try."

Madara pushed me down on my knees and held my arms while Itachi bent down and held my face up to look at his eyes.

"Is this necessary?" I said, struggling against Madara's arms. Somehow, I felt like I was being violated.

"People tend to get nervous around the Sharingan," Itachi replied. _I wonder why_, I thought bitterly, unwillingly staring into his crimson eyes. "Sharingan!"

I tensed, trying to wrench myself out of their grasp, but my efforts were futile. It felt like he was looking not only into my mind, but into my very soul.

"See? You're uncomfortable," remarked Madara, rather amused.

"Don't distract her, Sensei. I'm beginning the questioning now, Saya-kun. First, do any of the Akatsuki members die? If so, who and in what way?"

My thoughts immediately shifted from Itachi's unsettling eyes to Sasori, who would be the first to die. His encounter, his battle, his defeat…. I remembered it all. Trying not to think of his dark past, I struggled in objection. His personal story should be kept private.

"I told you, it's useless." said Madara, exerting more power into his Sharingan. "You can't hide anything."

Then it came: his mother and father's death, his lonely childhood days, the times he longingly gazed at other families, wanting someone to love him too, all revealed. His obsession with puppets, the reason why he made his first two puppets… everything was being shown to these uncaring people. Somehow, it pissed me off.

"Don't get so angry," Madara demanded. So they could see and hear my thoughts, too. "You sympathized with him; how compassionate. That's why you're angry."

"No," I said, still resisting. "That's not—I wasn't—"

"Chiyo-baa-sama and Haruno Sakura?" interjected Itachi, naming Sasori's killers. "Who would have thought…. Alright, we're finished with him. Who's next?" His words were like a trigger, launching my mind into thoughts of not only Sasori, but Hidan, Kakuzu, Deidara, Pain, and even Itachi himself.

"You're a liar, Saya." Madara said as he and Itachi finally released their Sharingan. "Your favorite wasn't Pain after all, but…"

"Shut up," I cut him short, breathing heavily. "How could I tell him in that situation?"

Itachi said nothing, pondering the details of his own eventual death. "We're done for today; it will be dangerous for all three of us if we use the Sharingan any more than we already have." He began to walk back to the base when I spoke.

"Itachi, don't… don't tell the others about Sasori." I asked, hoping that he would understand. Without answering, he continued to walk and disappeared behind the waterfall.

I punched the ground, frustrated. Of course he wouldn't understand; he was just a cold, murderous criminal. Sasori's pain would mean nothing to him but another piece of information to tell Pain.

**Madara**

I watched as Saya physically expressed her anger.

_Strange kid._

It had nothing to do with her, but her feelings as she remembered those certain deaths were sincere. Why did she care so much for people like them? To everyone else in this world, they were nothing but cold-hearted, evil S-class missing-nin. Even when remembering Itachi's death, her heart was in despair. She didn't particularly care for him, so why was she sad?

_.... Strange kid_.

Knowing I had to leave on an important secret mission soon, I left her there to sort out her feelings. I chuckled to myself, knowing who was watching behind the trees, wondering what his expression would look like seeing Saya like this.

**Sasori**

I was stunned into silence. Knowing that the interrogation would start soon, I had followed Saya, Itachi, and Tobi into the forest. My thoughts dwelled upon her strange question when we had first met, and I began to suspect something. My suspicions were confirmed here: I was going to die.

Seeing Tobi's identity didn't even compare to the shock I felt at her reaction to my death. Her bitterness to Itachi, Tobi's quiet departure, her fist slamming into the ground… I didn't get any of it.

Why would she care about what happened to me? I had done nothing to make her develop feelings for me…. no, actually, it was the opposite. I _hurt_ her when we first met, and I had tried to kill her last night.

_So why… why was she like this?_

No one cared enough for me to become angry for my sake. No one needed me for who I was, as a human being. No one wanted to touch me or embrace me, so I decided that there was no point in feeling at all. That's why I became a puppet.

But now… what was I feeling? My chest, where the last living part of my body rested, ached.

_Why?_

I was going to answer that question here and now. Jumping down to the clearing, I landed in front of her. She had a lack of reaction, but I could see the cold realization on her face.

"Oh, Sasori," she said, grinning and getting up. "I was just with Itachi and Tobi… did you need anything?"

I stared at her face. If I hadn't been there the whole time, I would have bought her act. That annoyed me. I hated how she saw through my cold front and acted like she cared. If there was one thing I didn't want, it was anyone's sympathy.

"Why?" I asked. "Why are you crying?"

"What?" she said, frozen, her expression turning pale. After feeling her face, she was puzzled. "I don't feel any tears…"

"You let your guard down," I remarked, satisfied. "That act of yours was convincing to an extent, but as soon as I caught you off guard, you revealed your true feelings."

She didn't speak, but her expression darkened. "You heard?"

"Everything," I answered.

"I-It wasn't anything personal," she said. "I was just feeling—uh—pity for you; you know, since you're the sympathy character and your story was depressing…"

Her talking ceased as I moved closer. Her eyes, shining in the light, never left mine as I moved closer to her face. She moved her head back, unable to stop the hot rush to her cheeks. "You know," I said, smirking in victory. "To make a convincing lie, you shouldn't stutter. And when I move to close to you," I leaned in even further, ever so slowly. "You get nervous."

She leaned back so much that she lost her balance, falling onto the grass behind her. Her arms were on the ground behind to break her fall, and her knees were bent upwards so her feet rested on the ground. I smirked; it was fun to tease her.

"Are you going to be honest from now on?" I asked, sitting down in front of her, making sure that the distance between us was short enough to keep her bashful. This was the only way to learn the truth.

"For what?" she said, her voice less bold now. _Oh? She's still trying to play dumb?_

Smirking ever so mischievously, I moved even closer.

**Saya**

I tried to move back, but his arms spread my knees apart and he seated himself between them.

_He's a puppet, _I told my panicking self. _He's in a puppet body, not a real man's body…._ But then it dawned upon me that his body _was_ his puppet.

Thinking of what to do, I tried moving my arms further back on the ground to shift my body backward. He suddenly moved forward, his hands holding mine firmly down. Sasori could lean his face in as far as he wanted now, and I couldn't do anything about it. I was suddenly aware of my own breathing, which quickened remarkably.

"… Sasori?" I said uncertainly, scared.

"Are you still going to resist?" he asked playfully. I hated his voice; it was too attractive, too piercing, too arrogant.

"… No." was all I could say. Even though it was serious damage to my pride, I knew better than to refuse.

"Good," he said, not moving back at all.

**Sasori**

I could hear her breath near my lips. This person could see right through me, and I hated it, to the point where I wanted to kill her. _Why is she so strange?_ I was going to get answers right now.

"Why are you sad about my past?" I asked, staring into her eyes, the ones that pierced into my soul so easily.

I could tell that she gave up on evading the question, knowing her situation. "Nothing is worse than loneliness," she answered, a reflective look on her face. "It's the worst feeling, not being needed by anyone in this world."

At one glance, I knew that she had suffered a similar experience. And to be honest, I couldn't really argue with her. But that wasn't enough, not nearly enough. "You know what kind of person I am; I killed hundreds of people and violated their bodies to use them as weapons. Why would you feel anything for me, knowing that I'm a ruthless killer?"

"Your actions didn't come from nowhere. Loneliness, sorrow, rejection… they all cause one to hate the world. It's how evil is born." Now I knew why her eyes seemed to always pierce into mine; she was the same. "They make you want to disappear from reality and dream.… I only have dreams written down in stories… those are everything to me."

_Why was this person so forgiving, so understanding? _There was something I needed to know. I wouldn't be able to alleviate the pain in my chest if I didn't know. For some reason, around her, I couldn't keep a cool head.

**Saya**

"Why do you care so much for my sake?" his voice, so low and gentle, asked the decisive question. I stared into his autumn eyes, which were shining for the first time.

"I…" my inner self wanted for me to say this, but I couldn't. "I…."

Back then, when I had read Sasori's story, I felt true despair for him, even though I knew he was a fictional character. But as soon as I saw him for the first time, as a genuine human like me, I couldn't believe it. His crimson hair, his autumn eyes, his mellow voice, and his pain were all as real as my feelings.

"I can connect with you," I said, trying to make it sound as honest as I could. It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the true reason, either. "We share the same pain, so I can't just let you be. I feel like we should help each other…" I kept my voice sincere, and I made sure to use a serious expression. "That's why I was so serious."

When his expression lessened, I was relieved. He bought it. Standing, he held out his hand. I stared at it, wondering if I was hallucinating. Maybe the sun was too bright, impairing my vision.

"We should return to the base," he said. For the first time, I saw life in his eyes. I looked at his outstretched hand, wanting to take it but finding myself unable to move. When I didn't take his hand, he bent down to take my arm and pulled me up, leading me back to our home.


	5. Date

**Saya: The rating of this work has been changed from M to T, simply because the only questionable subjects are the language and some of the jokes. Most teens know about this stuff already, so I switched it. If it gets worse, or if I decide to introduce sensuality into the story, I'll change it back to M.**

**Hidan: Get that, shitheads?**

**Saya: ....**

**Deidara: Saya, maybe you should change the rating back.**

**Saya: ... Maybe I should. Oh, and we've been neglecting Hidan so far, but he has a pretty interesting role from now on.**

**Hidan: Yeah, include me in the fucking plot.**

**Deidara: Alright then, Saya does not own Naruto. If she did, she'd give my character more screen time and development.**

**Saya: That, I will definitely agree with.**

* * *

**Deidara**

"You only caught one fish?" I said in disbelief as Saya returned with Sasori.

"Uh, actually it was Itachi who caught this one," she said nervously, holding up the bag.

"So, in other words, you didn't get any." I closed in. "And how are all of us supposed to eat that one tiny fish?" I asked, the volume of my voice increasing with every word.

"Well, uh…" she moved behind Sasori, and I stopped in my tracks. That was a first.

"Ah, so that's it," I said, concealing my anxiety. "You've been fooling around with Sasori no Danna the whole time, and now you're pals."

"Baka," said Sasori, but he didn't move.

"So what're we gonna eat?" asked Kisame, now watching another movie and drinking with Hidan, who had apparently returned from his village visit.

"I want Inarizushi*!" Tobi announced, playing cards with Kakuzu.

"Since when did I become the cook?!" she said, annoyed. "You're all definitely picking on me because I'm a girl!"

_But that wasn't it_, an honest voice said in my head. She really was a good cook, and only her presence compelled us to eat together as… though I hated to admit it… fellow roommates.

"Baaaka," said Hidan, getting up and confronting Saya. "Who said you're the cook of the Akatsuki? The incredible, elite cook that everyone worships here is _me_."

When all of us apart from Sasori and Saya snorted, Hidan glowered menacingly.

"Oi, shitheads," Hidan's eye twitched as his fellow members ridiculed him. "What's so funny?"

"_Elite_?" Kisame repeated after finishing his can of beer. "You can't even make eggs!"

"Oi, Kakuzu-san, remember when he exploded those eggs on the stove?" Tobi asked Kakuzu while switching cards.

"_I_ do," I replied, grinning. "That wasn't so artistic, though, mm."

"Nothing that explodes is artistic," said Sasori. I turned to him, keeping a grin on my face, but trying to make myself clear.

"Art is an explosion," I replied. "With all due respect, Danna, I don't find human puppets as artistic."

"What was that, Deidara?" he challenged in his calm, low voice. "Want to fight?"

"Not at all," I answered, not stupid enough to start a fight with him.

"YOU DICKHEADS!" Hidan suddenly shouted, making all of us jump. "DON'T JUST INSULT SOMEONE AND THEN IGNORE HIM!"

"My bad," I said, rubbing the back of my head.

"Hidan," Saya said, cautiously trying to calm him down.

"Fight me," he said to her, glaring.

"… Huh?" she asked, looking like she wondered if she heard right.

"Fight me right now! I challenge you to a cook-off!" he declared. I had never seen him like this, so ready to compete with another rather than act all high-and-mighty as usual.

"I'm not very good at stuff like that," she insisted, laughing nervously, looking to me for help.

"Sorry Hidan, but Saya and I are going shopping now," I said, grabbing Saya's arm and leading her to the door. "Since we're short on ingredients for dinner," I pointed to the bag that carried one fish.

"Tomorrow!" he yelled as we walked out the front door. "You better show up tomorrow!"

As I led her through the forest, she ripped her arm out of my grasp. "That's the second time I saved you," I remarked."Looks like you owe me one."

Her expression suddenly turned from relief to irritation. Apparently she didn't like to be in someone else's debt. "What do you want me to do?" she asked.

"Nothing," I answered, smiling innocently. "Just stick around with me for the day."

"Where are we going?"

"Hikarigakure," I replied. "The Village Hidden in Light. It's where Hidan was earlier, and it's the closest village to our base."

"I've never heard of it," she said.

"It's a fairly big and lively shinobi village," I explained. "It's not very powerful because the percentage of shinobi that actually live there is small. The village is mostly a commercial marketplace, so it doesn't have much information about us Akatsuki, but we're still careful." She noticed that I didn't bring my Akatsuki cloak but a more modern black jacket over my white long-sleeved shirt. I took off my forehead protector and tucked it into an inside jacket pocket.

"So what are we going to do there?" she asked, interested. "Just food shopping?"

"I don't know," I said, already thinking of ideas. "You'll just have to find out."

**Saya**

_He's definitely planning something_, I figured. And knowing him, it couldn't be anything fun.

"Going on a date?" asked Zetsu, his light side speaking. Apparently his appearing in random places was a normal thing, because Deidara didn't react at all.

"What?" Alarmed, I looked from Deidara to Zetsu. "No, this… this is…." Then it came to me. We were two teenagers of opposite genders, alone together, going for a day of shopping in town. "AH!" I realized, shaking my head. "No, this is different! Hidan wanted to cook and he got mad at me; Deidara was helping me escape from Hidan's eggs and it just, sort of, turned out this way." I shook my head; it didn't even make sense to me.

"… The hell?" said Zetsu's dark side. "Whatever."

"I want to go, too!" his light side said.

"No," said his dark side. "Our appearance draws too much attention."

When I saw white Zetsu's hurt face, I felt bad. "Eh… Maybe you can take off those Venus fly-trap things?"

"Never mind him," his dark side replied, starting to walk away. "He usually asks for the impossible."

"But--!" I didn't want to be left alone with Deidara. "Oi, come back, omelet thief!" Though he made me angry and acted oddly, I liked Zetsu. Seeing him depressed was a deep notch on my conscience.

"Let's go," Deidara said, taking my arm again and dashing off without warning.

"Deidara!" I said, my legs moving too fast for me to control. "I'm gonna fall!"

"Right," he said, remembering that I wasn't a shinobi with a strange, super-fast run.

"You could beat the star runner on my high school's track team," I muttered as he slowed down.

"High school?" he said. "What's that?"

"It's a school for kids from age fifteen to eighteen," I explained. "It just teaches academics, though."

"That's stupid," he said. "How do you learn skills and get jobs then?"

"The next step is college," I continued. "It's an academy that has specialized courses to develop skills, but it's expensive and some are hard to get in. People usually go to college for four or eight years depending on whether they go to graduate school or not. Oh, graduate school is in a college department designed for a specific profession, and that's where you get ready for applying for jobs."

"If life just needed skill," he said, looking at the bright sky. "Then we shinobi would be set right after graduating the academy; that's at the age of anything from six to twelve. Yet in your world, people don't get skill until the age of twenty-two. And after gaining the ability, everything after that is training and experience. The people in your world start life late, mm."

I said nothing, watching the leaves dance in front of us.

"So, tell me more about you." He said, grinning at me. For a moment, I thought, as I looked at him, maybe he had a really nice smile. Maybe I liked this side of him.

"What?" I asked, forgetting the question.

"You probably know a lot about me from your world," he pointed out. "Yet I know nothing about you; it just seems strange."

_Yes_, I thought, suddenly turning melancholy. _I know about you._ I knew how he became a member of the Akatsuki and what fighting techniques he used, but I knew almost nothing of his childhood. All I remembered was that he was ridiculed for his explosive art and left his village at a young age to become an assassin bomber. His childhood days, like Sasori's, seemed dark and lonely.

"There's really nothing to know," I replied, trying to keep my voice steady.

"Did you have a family?" he asked. That word triggered many unwanted memories.

"I did," I replied quietly, looking at the ground as we walked. "A mother, a father, and an older brother."

"Not a good relationship, hn?" He noticed my hesitance.

"They just… expected too much of me." I said, still not looking at him. "I was always compared to my brother and my friends, and my parents became disappointed so often that at one point, they didn't expect anything from me anymore. They complained about how I had no talent or intelligence and always lectured me because to them, I was a failure. All I wanted to do was write novels, but they didn't acknowledge that as a career pursuit; they just thought I was being lazy. I stopped caring about their high school and college expectations after that."

"What about your brother?" he asked. "Was your relationship bad too?"

My lips pressed together as I tried to keep an empty expression. "There never was a relationship to begin with. He never cared for me at all. And since he was an excellent model student who became a respected, talented doctor, my parents never gave him any crap. He was the perfect child I could never be."

I felt his gaze on me, but I didn't dare look. If I did, I was afraid that I would show emotion on my face. "I would have left the house." He said. "A shit family like that doesn't even deserve the most talentless kid in the world."

"I did leave," I answered. "I left and lived by myself, jumping between part-time jobs and visiting publishing companies." Smiling coldly, I gazed at nothing in particular. "I wasn't too late in starting life, Deidara. I left my house four months ago, at the age of sixteen."

He looked away. "Now I feel a bit sad that I asked," he said. "But," he turned to me, his sincere smile radiating again. "I don't regret it."

I stared at him, unable to do anything else. _Was this smiling person really Deidara?_

"So you said you wanted to become a novelist?" he said, returning to his normal self again. "What kind of stories have you written?"

"Mostly friend and romance stories and some sci-fi stories," I replied.

"That sounds boring," he remarked, making a face.

"I don't see you appreciating any complicated stories anyway," I said. "Or anything other than explosives…"

"What was that?" he said, challenging me to say it again.

"Nothing," I said, grinning. His eye twitched at my innocent, smiling face and he stretched it.

"Learn to know your place, Chibi," he said, pulling my cheeks with his hands. "I'm your _senpai_, you know."

"Ah—ow, that hurts—! Stop it—"

And so we continued our long walk to Hikarigakure, filled with constant talk about my world and my life.

**In the Akatsuki Base**

I, Hidan, loyal servant of Jashin, am troubled. Before Saya came, everyone took care of his or her own food, and no one really cared or questioned that I called myself the "cook" of the Akatsuki. Now that a rival has appeared, I became very distressed, indeed.

"Hey," I nudged Kisame on the couch next to me. "Was that kid's food good?"

Kisame, who was intently watching the romance drama on TV, answered offhandedly, "Yeah, it was good."

Anxious, I looked from Kisame to the TV, wondering how good my chances were of getting punched if I turned it off. I really wanted to know what Saya cooked and how good her cooking was, but turning off the TV would only get me sacked, and if I kept talking for much longer, I would get sacked anyway.

"Really fucking good?" I asked.

"Yeah," said Kisame, clearly wanting me to be quiet.

I decided to take his chances and go on. "What'd she make?"

"Omelet," he replied. "Now could you shut up?"

"Oi, dickhead, I'm just asking you a fucking question." I said, forgetting about restraining myself.

"AH! NOOO!" he stood, his hands on his head as he looked at the TV. "I _knew_ the girl was going to die! Oh, poor Ren-kun, his only lover…"

Reluctantly looking at the TV, I saw a man leaning over the body of a dying woman in a hospital room or some shit place. I was forced to watch this with Kisame ever since the beginning of the series, and it was getting really fucking annoying. They were speaking and crying, and it was so sappy and stupid that I resisted the urge to total the TV right then and there.

"Hu, hu, hu," Kisame dabbed his eyes with tissues as he watched the girl say her last words.

"Hurry up and die already," I muttered so Kisame would turn off the TV and talk to me.

When Kisame started sobbing, I knew that the show was over, and I resumed my questions.

"So what else did she make?"

"Shut up, Hidan… I'm suffering a love loss, here…"

"It's a fucking drama!"

"Shut up! I'm emotionally unstable right now—!"

"'Emotionally unstable' my ass! Just because the girl died from elbow cancer—"

"It's eyebrow cancer!"

"… The fuck?" Kakuzu said as he overheard, getting himself a beer from the fridge.

"—Whatever the fuck it was, it has nothing to do with you! Now hurry up and tell me about the brat's cooking!"

"Ayumi-chan," Kisame eye's started to water again, and I drew back disgustedly as he blew his nose.

"Yeah, yeah, okay," I said, starting to get impatient. "But about the kid—"

"Because you insulted Ayumi-chan, I'm not going to tell you!" he said, heading to the dorms.

"Oi, where're you going?" I said.

"I need to have some alone time to mourn in my room," he said, opening his door. "Don't follow me!"

"Come back, goddamn shark head!" I yelled, but he slammed his door closed. _Ah, isn't this just fucking great._ I tried so hard to be nice, too.

"Why is it so loud?" Sasori had appeared from his room just as Itachi appeared from his.

"What's the commotion?" Itachi asked. "I heard Kisame's voice."

"He's just being the fuckhead he always was," I said, pissed. "I'll slice him with my scythe and make him into sushi the next time I see him…"

Sasori returned to his room, but Itachi went to the kitchen and opened the fridge, taking out his beloved dango and onigiri*.

"You know," I said, looking at the onigiri in his hands. "Next time, I can make you an onigiri that's ten times better than that one. Oh, but you'll have to ask me politely and give thanks to Jashin before you eat it."

When Itachi simply stared at me, that no-nonsense look in his eyes, I couldn't help but shut up. Even I knew my limits with Itachi. He then looked around the large room. "Where is Saya-kun?" he asked.

"She left with Deidara to go to the village." I said. "Why?"

"She shouldn't move around much." He said, walking towards the front door; he almost never ate his lunch inside. "I used Sharingan on her earlier, and I don't know how resistant her foreign body is to it." But he discarded the thought and left through the front door.

_Why did you need to use Sharingan on her?_ I sweat dropped.

**Saya**

"… You liar." Deidara said, his expression pale.

"I'm not," I replied, rather amused at his reaction. "You're really popular in Naruto yaoi* fan fiction. The most popular pairing with you is Sasori when he's the seme*."

His entire face seemed to darken in repulsion. "That means… _I'm_ the uke*?"

It was hard not to laugh, but I held it in. "Because in the manga, a lot of people mistook you for a girl in the beginning, since you had long hair."

"And _you_ read this stuff?" he asked, looking scared for the first time since I've seen him.

"Not particularly; I'm not really for yaoi or against it, but I do know about it."

"This is violation of my rights!" he said, outraged. "Those fan girls can't just use me as a character for their gay sex fantasies!"

"Well, technically to them, you're not real." I pointed out. "Don't take it so personally; the use of your character in so many yaoi stories just means that you're popular."

"I forbid you to read any of those stories!" he said, his seriousness making it even funnier. "I will _not_ become an uke, nn!"

"I don't find you as an uke, either." I reassured him, grinning. "You're pretty boyish to me."

"How? Be specific," he said, apparently needing more reassurance.

Just looking at him, I felt that wild, boyish atmosphere that constantly surrounded him. "Your voice, first of all," I said. "It's the same as Kawamoto Katsuhiko's: low and fresh and attractive. And your face and figure are definitely male, no matter what other people say, though you're really slender. Even though your hair is long and silky, it's not feminine or anything. You just give off that boy sort of feeling, with your attitude and behavior."

He smirked, looking at me in a way that made me nervous. "The way you say it makes me sound attractive."

"I didn't say _you_ were attractive," I quickly added. "I said Kawamoto Katsuhiko's voice was attractive."

"But his voice and mine are one and the same, un." he pointed out, grinning. Then he suddenly leaned in, his lips at my ear. "Right, Saya?" he whispered.

My cheeks felt hot and I leaned away, looking at his mischievous face. I hated that I found his face attractive, let alone his voice, but I couldn't stop it. _These Akatsuki members and their closeness,_ I thought, annoyed at myself. It really made me nervous.

"Look where we are," he said, pointing to my right. I turned and saw the town down the hill, lively and shining in the afternoon sunlight. "Were you that occupied looking at my face?"

"Let's go," I said, ignoring his last comment and taking his arm. He said nothing but simply smiled the entire way as I pulled him to the village.

* * *

Inarizushi - a type of sushi with rice in fried tempura

onigiri - Japanese rice ball

yaoi - intimate romantic relationship between two males; more explicit than shounen-ai (boys' love)

If you don't know what "seme" and "uke" are, then just send me a message. I'm a bit embarrassed to explain the concept here.

**Please tell me what you think.**


	6. Cooking with Hidan

**Saya: So guys, what can we do to get more people to read my story?**

**Kakuzu: Bribe them?**

**Konan: Say that it's a lemony Akatsuki yaoi! Use Deidara and Sasori or something...**

**Deidara: HELL no.**

**(notice how I've changed the characters from just Akatsuki to Deidara and Sasori)**

**Saya: It probably would work, too (sweat drops). Well, my readers, spread the word, favorite it if you like it!**

**Kisame: Yeah, if you guys review, something really funny will happen to Deidara in the next chapter!**

**Deidara: What?**

**Kisame: .... Nothing.**

**Itachi: Saya does not own Naruto; if she did, then we Akatsuki would be major characters that are still alive and well.**

**Konan: ..... Damn.**

**Itachi: What?**

**Konan: I was hoping you would say something like, "Saya does not own Naruto; _I_ do!"**

**Itachi: ....**

**Konan: ITACHI AND NARUTO YAOI! (fan girl scream)**

**Saya, Kakuzu, Konan, Deidara, Kisame, Itachi: ..... (sweat drop)**

* * *

****

Pain and Konan

"Well, that's the last of it," said Pain as he and Konan stood to leave the V.I.P. room of a hotel in Hikarigakure. But when Madara showed up suddenly, he closed the door behind him, and Pain and Konan sat back down.

"Madara, what brings you here?" Pain asked.

"Our future target," Madara said, remaining standing. "I have information regarding our target from Saya; I'll explain to you the other details after this. I know the way to capture him and obtain what we need while keeping her promise."

"To not kill 'good' or 'innocent' people?" Pain asked. "You took that promise seriously?"

"I'm a man of my word," he answered. "A promise to you is a promise to me, since I'm the true leader."

"This won't work well for us if we don't kill him," argued Pain. "He'll receive information about us if he lives."

"I believe I said that I have a plan." Madara said, his authority suddenly showing its prominence.

"I'm against killing," said Konan, her hand on my shoulder. "I'm interested to hear this idea, Nagato."

"I can already guess what sort of plan it is and who's involved," Pain said, his fingers entertwined. "You're going to use Saya, aren't you?"

Madara smirked. "Shrewd as always, Pain."

"You trust her so quickly to do something this important to us?"

"She is trustworthy," Madara insisted. "She won't betray us."

"Is this another hunch of yours?" asked Pain.

"And if it is?" Madara asked in turn.

Pain and Konan knew that once Madara was confident about something, there was no way to talk him out of it. After all, he was several times smarter than them.

**Saya**

I felt like I was in an old Japanese town with random modern adjustments made to it. The marketplace was busy during the day, and the downtown district was filled with mainly hotels, onsens*, and clubs. On the other side of town were the resident homes and the small shinobi administration.

"This place is huge," I said. I had always pictured villages to be small and close-knit.

"It's a commercial village; what'd you expect?" Deidara stopped by a ramen restaurant stand. "It's past lunch time; we should eat."

"Ramen!" I said, suddenly excited as I rushed in ahead of him. If there was one thing I had in common with Naruto, it was our love for ramen.

"Hello, young lady." The cook said as I took a seat in front of him. "What will you have today?"

"I want shoyu* ramen!" I said as Deidara sat next to me.

"And you, young man?" he asked.

"Bakudan* ramen," Deidara replied, taking chopsticks and breaking them apart.

"Coming right up!" the cook turned and started working immediately.

"By the way," I said, turning to Deidara. "You're paying for this, right?"

He looked at me, confused. "I thought you were going to pay."

"What?" I asked, dumbfounded. "But I have no money!"

He laughed as he poured himself tea. "I'm kidding; even if you had money, it's not the right currency for this world. I'll take care of it."

_Somehow_, I thought, twitching my eye. _Somehow I feel like he has a double personality; sometimes he's evil and sometimes he's nice._ Today, apart from this morning, his nice side was dominating. _But then again, it's probably because we're in public_, I thought darkly.

"After this, where are we going?" I asked him.

"Well, to the market for food shopping… and wherever I feel like going." He grinned.

"… That's nothing more than what you said before." I said, sweat dropping. As he turned back to watch the cook, I could partially see his left eye scope behind his bangs.

"How far does that scope zoom in?" I asked him.

"It goes pretty far," he said, looking at me through his scope. When I had a funny feeling that he was zooming in, I turned away, sipping my tea. "I can see up right up your nose with this…"

I choked, and he hit my back several times before I could get the tea out of my windpipe. "Are you _trying_ to kill me?" I asked, glaring. When he said nothing and grinned at me, I decided that not knowing the answer was better. "Can I try it on?"

"No," he answered immediately. "It's mine, baka. I can't have kids like you mess it up."

"I'm not a kid!" I said, annoyed. "I'm only two years younger than you!"

"Which makes you a kid," he remarked, his stupid grin pissing me off. "It's enough of a difference for you to call me _senpai_. Why don't you call me 'senpai' anyway?"

"At least I use your name," I pointed out. "I'm not 'Chibi' or 'Gaki*'; I have a real name: Saya!"

"Gaki is more than good enough for you," he replied, reminding me of a certain Uchiha who had called me 'Trash'. _This is why he pisses me off_, I thought, a vein growing in my forehead.

"Sorry for the wait," the owner of the stand placed two steaming bowls of ramen in front of us. "Here you go."

"Itadakimasu," we both said, distracted.

**At the Akatsuki Base**

I, Hidan, loyal servant of Jashin, am very troubled, indeed. Despite my efforts to gain information about the enemy (in this case, the enemy is Saya), none of my comrades would help me.

Even though I had already killed today, I felt like my life wasn't being lengthened at all. Thinking back to her stupid promise that we wouldn't kill any innocent people, I half-smirked. _If only she knew…_

But as I held a knife in one hand and a potato in the other, my mind came back into focus. _I'm going to make the best omelet in the world for you, Jashin-sama._

"Don't blow up the kitchen," Kakuzu said as he went back to his room.

"Fuck you," I replied, starting to peel the potato but cutting my hand almost instantly. "Shit!" I sucked on my finger and started again, but I cut my hand again. Even though I tried to concentrate, nothing was working. Licking my hand after the tenth mess-up, I looked from the potato to the knife.

_I have an idea._

**Deidara**

I led Saya into the marketplace, and we stopped at different stands, looking at the fresh fruit and fish, smelling the delicious dishes from nearby restaurant stands, and watching the amusing street entertainment. It was fun and I remembered everything, but what kept my attention the most was Saya. I would gaze at her for a long period before I realized that I was thinking about her the entire time, and it pissed me off. Why couldn't I stop looking at her? Was it because she was distractingly attractive? No, that wasn't it. Then what was it?

"That was really fun," she said as we started to walk home. She was eating ice cream that I had bought for her, and the sight really made her look younger than she was. "That one street magician was so good!"

"I could come up with better entertainment with my clay art," I insisted, thinking of my C2 dragon. She caught on so quickly I was startled.

"You mean I could… with you… on it…?" she asked, not believing my words. I couldn't help but grin at her hopeful face.

"Maybe if you bowed down to me and called me 'Deidara no Danna'," I said, laughing as her expression changed drastically. But then it slowly altered into slight remorse, taking me by surprise.

"I… I guess I haven't been calling you 'senpai' when I should've…" she started to say, but I cut her off.

"Don't," I said. "If you don't want to, then don't." Maybe I was acting too kindly for her to feel regret about not showing me respect. No one really showed me any respect since I was born. I was never particularly nice to anybody, and I didn't really remember giving her any special kindness.

"… Deidara-senpai." She said, more to herself. It sounded weird to both of us, and she shook her head. "Deidara-senpai, Deidara-senpai…"

For some reason, hearing my name repeatedly in that voice was embarrassing, and I took her ice cream cone, licking it.

"Hey!" she said, a bit revolted that I was licking her beloved ice cream.

"Don't call me 'Deidara-senpai' if it feels that weird to you," I insisted. "It'll only feel strange to me, too."

"My… ice cream…" she gazed wistfully at the cone in my hand. I tried to hand it back to her, but she wouldn't take it. "I don't want it now, not with your—" Before she could finish, I smashed the cone onto her face, leaving a trail of melted ice cream on her cheek. I laughed so hard as she jumped back, saying, "Ah, it's cold! Deidara, you—"

My hand went to wipe her cheek, and my mouth in my palm licked the cream off her face.

"W-What are you—" her voice suddenly weakened from its usual boldness, and her cheeks were scarlet.

"Now it's warm, right?" I asked as my tongue on my left hand continued to lick her cold cheek, though the ice cream was gone.

"Stop that!" she jumped back, realizing what I was doing. I looked at my palm, watching the mouth revert back to normal. _Even if you say that… _My hand's mouth just started licking her cheek, regardless of my will. _This doesn't just happen._ I always had control over the mouths on my hands like any other part of my body, but just now….

_What's happening?_

**Saya**

_It's a joke_, I told myself. _Just another one of his pranks...._

"Uh, let's hurry home," I said, laughing it off nervously. "We should make dinner so Kisame doesn't get too angry…" When I saw his facial expression, I stopped. He was looking at his hand, almost in alarm. But he changed immediately, giving me his usual annoyed look. Though it was cold and arrogant, I didn't hate it.

"Who said _we_ were making dinner? I believe I said y_ou're_ the one making us food."

"What?" I said, giving him an expression of equal dislike. "Didn't I just spend the whole day with you? And I made breakfast, too! It's only fair that you cook tonight."

"Excuse me?" he said, his stupid grin showing again as his eye twitched. "Exactly _who_ just treated you to lunch and ice cream today? Learn to respect your elders, you freaking, little—" he startled strangling me again.

"Argh, okay," I choked. "I'm sorry."

Letting go, he started to get worked up again. "Ah, that's it!" he said, pointing at me with his stupid finger. "From now on, you're calling me 'Deidara no Danna'!"

"No!" I answered defiantly, but when sparks started to fly from his head, I ran.

**At the Akatsuki Base (where Hidan is very troubled)**

"Aha!" I said, placing the last peeled potato into the bowl. "Chef Hidan is finished!"

"Good," said Kisame, walking over. "Now you can cut the peppers and start cooking. Jeez, that alone took you so long—" But he stopped dead, staring at the potatoes. "_What the hell?_"

"What?" I asked nonchalantly, taking out peppers and ham from the fridge.

"Why is there blood all over the potatoes?!" Kisame held one up. "And what's with the shape; it's all rectangular and shit!"

"Ah, I'll just wash off the blood," I said. "I made a mini sacrifice ritual so I could peel the potatoes; I kept cutting myself trying to do it, so I made a fool-proof method! Aren't I a genius?"

"You peeled off more potato than what's left!" Kisame said.

"Shut up!" I said, taking the bowl out of his hands and putting it back onto the counter. "Go back and watch your stupid shit," I pointed to the TV, where another one of Kisame's favorite soap operas was airing.

Suddenly I heard slurping, and I turned to see Zetsu licking at the blood off the potatoes.

I stared at him, confused. "When did you get there? And what the fuck are you doing to my potatoes?"

He continued licking despite my revolted glare, and grinned, laughing nervously.

**Pain and Konan**

They continued to the base, getting very close. Pain's mind, however, still dwelled on what Madara had said in the village.

Konan noticed her lover's discomfort. "Madara's plans almost always work," she pointed out. "It's not an easy target, and the risk of using Saya is high, but his thinking is several steps ahead of ours. This time should be no different."

"He went to investigate himself; who am I to stop him?" he sighed.

Konan didn't like to see Pain in such distress. "I think Madara is right," she said as they jumped from tree branch to tree branch. "We can trust Saya."

But Pain was not so convinced. "She's young and naïve." He said. "Saya is probably the easiest type of person to manipulate, but she has a strong sense of her own justice. I don't believe that she'll so obediently help us achieve our goal."

"You mean," Konan wanted to confirm that she heard right. "She won't help us because what we're doing, in her sense of justice, is wrong. You think that she's too good."

Pain turned to her, wondering if he would ever get used to her beauty. "We may have to do corrupt an innocent kid."

"If we do that," Konan said, looking at him. "We'll definitely go to hell."

The corner of Pain's lips upturned. "I'm going anyway."

* * *

**onsen - traditional Japanese public hot springs**

**shoyu and bakudan ramen - shoyu is a type of soy ramen, whereas bakudan is eggs with surimi and high-calorie toppings / bakudan is Deidara's favorite food**

**Gaki - kid**


	7. Special Training

**Why is this called "With Dawn Arrives the Akatsuki"? Well, to put it very simply, _Akatsuki_ means _Dawn_, and the Akatsuki had summoned Saya at dawn that one fateful day. Dawn marks a beginning, and it all began with the Akatsuki. It's a title with more than one meaning.**

**In this chapter, there is a rather humorous sequence for Saya to wake up in the morning. I was inspired by Kawamoto Katushiko's fan service wake-up calls. There is a video of his wake-up sequences on Youtube, entitled: "Deidara's voice actor's fan service wake-up calls". Watch it if you haven't already; it's funny.**

**Here's a nice long chapter for you; the last one was rather short. Thank you, the select few of my readers, for reviewing my story; it really keeps me going.**

**I do not own Naruto.**

**

* * *

****Saya**

If random people had happened to see me running away from Deidara, they would definitely think that I was overreacting. But I, and only I, knew what his true intentions were. So I continued to pant heavily to run as fast as I could, yelping in fear whenever I turned to see his figure walking quickly but still somehow keeping up with my pace.

When I caught sight of the waterfall, I sighed in relief, ran behind it, and entered through the front door of the base. Oh, what a sight it was inside.

In the kitchen, a teary Kisame was having a heated argument with Hidan, who was wearing a red apron and holding a knife that he repeatedly pointed at Kisame. Zetsu was behind them, licking a weird-shaped potato that was dripping blood. Kakuzu was counting money and watching the bantering at the same time, amused. I simply gawked at them. _What happened here?_ But the most ridiculous thing was that Itachi was sitting in an armchair reading a book, oblivious to the entire situation.

"Are you insulting my cooking?" Hidan's and Kisame's noses were almost touching.

"You insulted Ayumi-chan!" Kisame bawled.

"Who's that?" I asked, sweat dropping, but they didn't hear me.

"Who gives a flying fuck about her? Just because she died from armpit cancer—"

"It's _eyebrow_ cancer!"

With that, Deidara and I fell over laughing and finally caught their attention.

"W-What's eyebrow cancer? Is that even real?" I couldn't breathe as I tried speaking to Deidara, but he was having more trouble than I was.

"A-A-Armpit cancer…" he could barely get the words out before we started laughing again.

But Hidan and Kisame glared at us, veins popping. "SHUT UP, GAKIDOMO*!"

Amidst our laughter, I heard the door behind us open, and Pain and Konan walked in, looking confused for a moment, but quickly recovering.

"… Tadaima*." They said.

"O-O-Okairi*," I replied, getting up and helping Deidara.

"Oi, gaki, did you get the groceries?" Hidan rushed over to me, looking into the plastic bags. "What are you making?"

"Curry rice," I replied, still grinning from the laughing mania. With that, he took the bags, rushed back into the kitchen, and started working right away.

"Tonight, I'll make it," he said, rolling up his sleeves.

"No, don't let him make it!" insisted Kisame, giving me a meaningful look.

"What was that?" Hidan's scary voice was enough to make me cower, but Kisame wasn't intimidated. "Wanna say that again, shark shit?"

"Alright," said Pain in an authoritative voice. "Let's clear the kitchen so Konan and Hidan can make dinner."

Looking around, I realized that Tobi wasn't around like he usually was. "Where's Tobi?" I asked.

"He left earlier," said Kakuzu. "He always disappears, so don't worry about him."

"I assigned him a mission," Pain explained. "He won't be back for several days. By the way," he turned to Kakuzu and Itachi. "Weren't you supposed to be away for several days? Why have you returned so early?"

"It turns out our mission was already completed by someone else," Kakuzu replied. "We heard the news once we reached Hikarigakure. It sucked that I didn't get the payment."

"Did you confirm it?" asked Pain.

"It's confirmed," Itachi replied. Pain nodded; Itachi's word was more than enough for him.

But there was one more person missing: Sasori. "Is Sasori still in his room?" I asked.

"Yeah," Zetsu's dark side answered, picking up another bloody potato. "He said he was tired of the noise and went to his room to 'work'."

I looked at the dorm corridor, wondering why Sasori spent most of the time hauled up in his room. But then again, I could figure what he was doing.

"He's been spending a lot of time in his room lately," Itachi remarked, not turning away from his book. That confused me. _So this wasn't normal?_

"I'll help you make dinner," I suggested to Hidan and Konan, wanting to take my mind off Sasori. But Hidan stepped between me and the kitchen, his face held high.

"No thanks, gaki." He said, dismissing me. "We don't need you."

"Okay then," I said apprehensively, heading to the dorms. When I reached my room, I closed the door behind me, looking across the room at the warm-colored sky. The lake now reflected shades of pink, yellow, red, and orange. Somehow, I felt like the walls of this room were the only true protection I had from the others.

I took a shower in the personal bathroom, wanting to avoid an awkward encounter in the baths.

_What am I doing here?_ If there was a God, and he wanted this to happen, then what was He trying to tell me?

_Did I not belong to the world I came from?_ I turned off the shower and took a towel. _Well, that would have made sense. No one really liked me back there anyway._ After dressing, I fell onto my bed, gazing out the window. _The view… really is nice._ I didn't even realize that I had drifted to sleep.

_It's warm._

"Saya-kun," a low, smooth voice said. It sounded so nice and warm that I wanted to cuddle with myself and sleep more. But when I felt something touch my forehead, a shock went through my body.

I sat up, fully awake. Itachi was standing, his finger still on my forehead.

"Even if you don't have a chakra flow, it still works." He remarked.

"Is there something you wanted, Itachi?" I asked, wondering why he was here. The room was dark; only the moonlight shone in through the window.

"You needed that rest," he said. "I wondered what symptoms would show after I used Sharingan on you, since you're from a different world. Even in this world, people have severe reactions if it's used too frequently. It looks like your body is just tired. Do you feel any mental shock?"

"Mental?" I repeated, reminded of a doctor. "I don't think so."

"Then just remember to take care of your body." He said. "Don't neglect sleep from now on."

I realized why it felt strange now. _Was he, by any chance, trying to take care of me? _"Okay," I replied, puzzled. _Why?_

"And dinner is almost ready," he said, his eyes gleaming in the eerie light. "Let's go."

I stared after him as he left. _He woke me up to eat dinner? What's going on?_ Why was he, out of all of them, acting like… the brother he never was to Sasuke?

But as I followed him into the corridor, the guilty memory came back to me. _He was true to his younger brother; Sasuke just never realized it. _My thoughts averted as I immediately smelled the bubbling curry in the kitchen.

"Eat this, gaki!" Hidan stuck the small tasting dish in front of my face as soon as I entered the living room. I grinned, wondering if he realized that he made a pun, and tasted the curry.

"It's good," I said, surprised. Hidan wasn't as bad as they had insisted.

"That's because _I_ made it, baka," Konan knocked Hidan's head as she ladled the curry on top of separate rice plates.

"I helped you!" he said, outraged as he massaged his head.

"You _boiled the water_," she shook her head. "And everything else you tried to do failed."

"Bitch," he murmured, taking the finished plates to the table. "Oi, shitheads! Whoever's eating, get your food now!"

Kakuzu and Deidara tried to get the same plate and glared at each other when they both held a side.

"I was here first," said Deidara, pulling.

"Elders are supposed to be first," Kakuzu snapped.

"But I touched it first."

"Guys," I said. "There are other plates—"

"Fine, then." But Kakuzu didn't let go, beckoning to Deidara. "Ladies first."

"_What'd you say, bastard?_" I could almost see the electricity between their eyes.

I looked around the kitchen, bewildered. _What a happy household._

**Sasori**

Time had passed by before I realized that night had fallen. Looking out the large window, I wondered when I was last this immersed in my puppet making. Now that I thought about it, I didn't get to hear exactly how I died; I was too focused on Saya's surprising care for me to think about anything else. I would have to ask her later.

And Tobi, who they called 'Madara' in the forest, was also strange. Who was Tobi, really? He definitely had Sharingan, so was he an Uchiha? There was so much to ask, but I doubted that Saya could tell me, even if she wanted to.

Though never tired in body, I did tire in mind and soul, so I stood and gazed out into the night scenery. My chest continued to ache. It wasn't exactly a bad feeling, but it wasn't a comfortable feeling, either. _What's causing this?_

It was strange for me to care, or even notice, that the others were having dinner. For the first time since I had become a puppet, I wanted to be able to eat. And after being touched by someone, someone who didn't mean harm... for the first time since I was a child, I wanted to feel.

_Why?_

**Saya**

_What was I expecting_, I asked myself as I sat at the table with my plate. _Did I seriously expect them to sit down at a table and eat like civilized people?_

Kisame took his plate with him to the couch, engrossed in another TV drama. Pain was sitting in his usual armchair, with Konan sitting on the arm, both eating from the same plate. The loving picture seemed to clash with the rest of the scene, where Deidara and Kakuzu were having a spoon fight, Hidan was giving an extended (and creepy) grace to Jashin, and Zetsu was pouring his own special, red 'sauce' over his rice.

Itachi and I were the only ones at the table, eating in silence. I tried not to look at his face, but it was hard when he was sitting right across from me. Extremely glad that his Sharingan was gone for now, I was free to think about his distractingly good looks. _God could have spent more time on me if he made him look like this._ It was ridiculous how attractive his face was, how smooth his voice was, how gifted his mind and body were. He shouldn't even be allowed to exist.

"Stupid Itachi." He suddenly looked at me, and I panicked. _I said that out loud?_ "I, uh, saw a weasel on the way home from the village!*" I lied, laughing nervously. "It almost attacked me!"

He didn't fall for it at all, but continued to look at me. For some reason, I was getting ticked off. _You and your impassive face…_

"What's with you?" I said, annoyed. "First you ignore me, then you're nice to me, and now you're just... _there_ with your annoyingly perfect poker face! Ah, it pisses me off!" I frantically messed up my hair with my hands.

"Saya? Are you feeling alright?" asked Zetsu's dark side, sweat dropping.

"She's probably going through _it_." Said Zetsu's light side, chuckling. "You know, like Konan at that time of the month…"

"And how do you know about that?" asked Konan, genuinely surprised.

"I can smell it," he replied, which freaked both Konan and me out. "But I can't smell Saya's…"

"That's because I'm _not_ in that time of the month!" I said, turning pink. "It's just—Itachi—"

"Oh, you don't have to say any more." Kisame chimed in, empathizing with me. "It's the realization we all went through: the shock from his looks, coolness, and genius! I have to live with it every day." He patted my shoulder. "Don't feel so insignificant, Saya-kun. I'm sure someone will find you more interesting than him someday."

"Girls from my world are crazy for Sasuke, too." I said, sweat dropping. "I guess it's an Uchiha thing." But then I remembered Tobi. Maybe not.

"Itachi's got fan girls even in _your_ world?" asked Hidan, probably pride-stricken.

"Hey, Saya," Kisame nudged me with his elbow. "Do I have any fan girls?"

"Everyone here has at least a few fan girls." I replied, feeling awkward for some reason.

"Who are the most popular?" asked Kisame, now very interested, and now everyone else seemed to be intrigued.

"Well," I said, trying to avoid hurting anyone's feelings. "I don't really know; I'm not a fan girl, so—"

"Liar."

_How do they know _every time_?_ Sweat dropping, I looked around, now trying to avoid a situation that reminded me of last night. "Uh…"

"What's going on?"

I was never so happy to hear Sasori's voice. Whirling around, I sought him for an escape route.

"Sasori! It's such a nice evening outside; do you want to go for a walk by the lake?"

He simply looked at me. "That's forward, considering that we had met yesterday. Do you want me that desperately?"

I didn't know what was worse: the fact that _he_ making a misconception, or the fact that everyone _else_ was making misconceptions.

"… Never mind." It wasn't even worth explaining. _Maybe if I could just slip into my room and fall asleep before anyone notices_….

"No, you don't." Deidara had my arm firmly in his hand. "We'll tie you down if we need to."

"Why?!" I regretted ever bringing up the stupid subject as he threw me down into a kitchen chair and sat across from me at the table. _These people_, I thought, massaging my bottom, _have to learn to use less-violent methods_.

"Just tell us who has the most fan girls, and we won't hurt you."

"Fine!" Frustrated, I looked around. The answer (in my case, the easiest way out) was pretty clear to me. "It's Tobi!"

Everyone looked at me, sweat dropping. "You know," Kakuzu said. "You could've come up with something more convincing."

"It's true!" I said. _Keep insisting_, I told myself. _Keep insisting and they'll believe it_. "All the girls like his funny, naïve, cute personality!" At the word 'cute', I had to restrain myself from grimacing. "And since no one knows what his face looks like, he's mysterious… and uh, girls like mysterious guys."

They started to buy it. "Maybe I should wear a mask from now on," Kisame said to himself.

"Okay, well, It's getting late, and I'm really sleepy, so…" I stood, heading for the dorms.

"Saya-kun, your meal isn't finished." Just the sound of his authoritative voice was enough for me to stop and turn around. Itachi was still sitting at the table, looking at me. "You must eat properly."

_What are you now, my brother?_ I reluctantly sat back down and continued to eat my curry rice. "Does this, by any chance, have to do with taking care of my body?" I asked, remembering what he had said earlier.

"Yes." He replied curtly.

I grimaced at the thought of a gifted genius like him as my brother; it reminded me of my real brother. He noticed my annoyance.

"I've been asked to make sure you stay healthy." He explained, making it clear that he wasn't happy about this either. I looked over at Pain, who was still dining with Konan in their little armchair.

"Itachi," I said, but then stopped. Somehow, I felt like I was being extremely disrespectful to him. "Itachi-_san_, I'm not exactly unhealthy, so you really don't have to worry about it—"

"I'm not worried about you," he said. "I'm just doing someone else a favor."

"Oh, is that so?" I said, trying to keep my voice steady. _This is Uchiha Itachi, Saya. Don't make him angry now._ "My mistake."

"Seconds!" Kisame, Zetsu, and Hidan said at the same time.

"Get them yourselves," said Konan, rather annoyed at the typical order.

"Zetsu," I said, remembering. "I thought you ate humans?"

"I've decided to change my diet." His dark side said. "Now I'm eating human food. I still drink blood for the basic things I need, but I'm only eating bodies to clean up now."

"So that leaves only Sasori who isn't eating…" Looking to the dorms, I wondered if Sasori would come out of his room tonight. Maybe it was because he was so used to loneliness that he never considered trying to be among others. I quickly finished my food and walked over to the dorm hallway. When I reached Sasori's room, I knocked on the door.

"Come in."

He was sitting at his desk, working on puppet parts. I walked over, watching him carefully shape a puppet arm.

"Is this what you do at night?" I asked. "Make more puppets?"

"No," he said, which surprised me. "This is the first time in a while that I'm making a non-human puppet."

"Then what do you do?"

He turned, looking at me with an amused look on his face. "Are you really that passionate about me? First you ask me to go on a night stroll with you, then you ask me what I'm doing tonight."

"Passionate?" I repeated, completely dumbstruck. "Sasori, you need to stop misunderstanding my intentions…"

"It's not unbelievable," he continued, ignoring my last comment. "Even if we only met yesterday, it's still understandable that you would be attracted to me."

"That's why I'm trying to _tell_ you—"

"It's my body, isn't it?" he said, standing and moving closer. "You want to hold this body that can go all night long."

"What are you saying?" I asked, my cheeks burning. "I'm not—I don't want—" My back met the wall, but he continued to close in.

"If this is what you want," he said, his voice quiet and low as his lips leaned in to my ear, "Then take me."

"No thanks!" I said, struggling to get him off. "Stop it, Sasori, this is getting weird…"

Through my attempts to shake him off, his hands pinned my arms to the wall. Even in his fifteen year-old body, he was still taller than me by the slightest bit.

"What are you going to do?" he asked, smirking at my trapped expression. "At this rate, I'm going to take you."

I was sincerely frightened. I was frightened by his aggressiveness and feared for being forcefully taken. But what frightened me the most was that, deep inside, I didn't completely hate this.

"You wouldn't really… rape me, would you, Sasori?" I asked, trying to keep my voice calm. But all he did was smirk and release my arms.

"We'll continue this another time, Saya." he said. With no hesitation, I went to leave and opened the door to find Itachi standing there. Though I realized he probably heard everything, I barely looked at him before I turned and disappeared into my room, closing the door behind me.

I slid down the door, hugging my knees. _What… happened?_

**Sasori**

"Itachi," I said, letting him in. "You really do obey your master."

"Sasori-san," he said, entering my room. "I don't care what you do with her, but just remember why she's here."

"Is that really true?" I asked him. "Do you really not care? What you did just now contradicts your words."

"As you said, I'm loyal to Leader."

"I don't think so," I looked at him, my one true friend in this organization. "How would you feel if I had continued that? Would it be alright with you?"

"It has nothing to do with me." His coolness about the subject proved my point even more.

"Just remember, Itachi," I said as he began to leave, "The one who takes advantage of her first will be the one to take her."

He said nothing as he shut the door. I looked out the window, glad that Itachi had not seen my true intentions. _But what are my true intentions?_ I looked at my hands, which had pinned Saya to the wall moments earlier. _If it's not her body that I want, then what is it?_

Why was a stupid kid making me this irritated? Around her, I completely lose control of myself. I try to discover Itachi's feelings about her, but why was I so interested? Normally I wouldn't be so persistent to him; he was my good friend.

_Sasori, you're becoming weaker._

**Madara**

Sunagakure, the Village Hidden in Sand was still sandy and warm as ever as I looked at the village from afar. I never thought that I would be here again this soon.

"Sabaku no Gaara*," I said, ready to infiltrate. "Soon you will be blessed."

**Saya**

I was so comfortable, but a bold voice disturbed my sleep.

"Oi, wake up."

Rubbing my eyes, I looked into a person's face, which was strangely illuminated by the morning light.

"-dara?" I said, still groggy. "Did you become a saint, or something?"

"What are you talking about?" he said, sweat dropping. "Get up."

"Mm," I said in protest, repositioning myself for sleep.

"You little—" He was quiet for a moment, but then his voice changed. "Wake up. If you don't, I blow you up, un."

I shot up, knocking my forehead into his. I didn't know he was on the bed, but he leaned back, gripping his forehead.

"If I had known that it would work that well, I would have moved back." he said.

"What the—" a voice said from the doorway. We both looked to see Kisame standing there. At first I wondered what he was staring at, but then when I realized that Deidara was on top of me on my bed, I yelled, pushing him off.

"No!" I said, hurrying over to Kisame. "This isn't—this isn't what it looks like! I just woke up, and Deidara was sunny, and he wanted to blow my forehead up… and it just turned out this way." I finished lamely, knowing it didn't make any sense.

"Scandalous!" Kisame grinned. "Saya, you're our chibi, yet you're doing such naughty things… It's just like a drama!"

"… Come again?"

"Oh, Deidara," Kisame turned to him, who was looking at me with increasing irritation. "I was looking for you. I need some help with my new jutsu."

"I can't," Deidara said, looking at me with utter annoyance. "I have to take _this_," he grabbed me and started dragging me down the hallway. "Down to the training grounds, un."

"What?" I was confused.

"Are you really that stupid?" he asked. "We're going to the _training grounds_, baka, to give you _training_."

I stared at him, looking for any sign that he was joking. "…. What? Training? Why?"

He stopped, looking at me with his annoyingly arrogant face. "Is your head empty? We need to train you so you don't die!"

As I was dragged by him past the living room and through the front door, I thought, _I think my death will be caused by the training._

**Saya**

The training grounds were wide, clear, and grassy, with trees surrounding them and mountains in the distance. It was a very inviting scene, with the exception of Itachi and Sasori waiting for us in the middle of the clearing.

"Is this really necessary?"

"Unless you want to die," said Deidara. "Once the shinobi villages find out about you and your ties with us, you'll be marked as an S-class missing-nin. Jounins and top secret divisions will be hunting you."

"Your existence is of great use to us, but at the same time, very dangerous for us." Sasori explained. "If you even get captured, you might be forced to slip information about us."

"You have no choice," said Itachi. "It's going to happen, so we must prepare for it now. Deidara will teach you the basic skills first, and then Sasori will introduce tactics and strategies to you. Once you've mastered those, then I will supervise your training with my own special lessons."

_Special lessons?_ I sweat dropped, not eager to encounter those any time soon.

Deidara took off his cloak and positioned himself to rush towards me. "First we'll see how good you are with this little test. Prepare yourself!"

I blinked as he dashed at me. "What?" Before I could say anything else, his forearm made contact with my stomach, and I fell back on the ground, coughing.

They all stared at my fallen figure, silent.

"What the heck was that for?!" I yelled, getting up. "You didn't even give me time to think after you said 'Go'!"

"Itachi-san," Deidara said to him, ignoring me. "I think it's going to be a long time before she gets lessons from you."

"That was a _straight-forward_, direct attack coming at you." said Sasori, sweat dropping. "He even warned you."

"I've seen enough for now." Itachi looked meaningfully at Sasori and Deidara and left. Somehow that really pissed me off.

"Look," I said to both of them. "You guys might be shinobi prodigies who've been training for years, but I'm a _normal_ human! Be a little gentler!"

"Sasori no Danna, I think I might have to give this baka a major handicap." Deidara said to him, but then turned to me. "Alright, gaki, I'll fight you with just _one_ arm."

Getting up, I positioned myself in the only stance I knew. He rushed in again, and I tried to move aside, but it wasn't fast enough. I landed on my back again, hit in the exact same place as last time.

"It was the same move!" he glowered at me. "I even moved slower for you!"

"Deidara, you're going to have to dumb up your moves much more than that," Sasori remarked, amused. "At this rate, she'll get knocked out."

_What the heck is this?_ Trying to regain the feeling in my stomach, I stood again.

"Fine," said Deidara, twitching. "I'll close one of my eyes and attack without using a leg or arm, and I'll move _really freaking slow_, just for you!"

We started again, and I managed to dodge his first punch and kick, but lost my balance in the process and fell on the ground again.

"It's like moving in slow motion," he said, clearly frustrated.

"It might be slow motion to you, but to me, it's normal for people in my world!" I said, more pissed than he.

"Your reflexes are quick for a beginner," said Sasori. "But your footwork is worse than a seven year-old's."

"I think this speed is slow enough for you," Deidara said, putting his cloak back on. "That's it for fighting today. Your legs aren't that bad, but your arms are weak as hell."

"I didn't even use them!" I said. "How do you know that?"

"When you fell," he said. "I saw the way you got up with your arms. Your abdominal strength sucks, too. So you're going to do fifty push-ups, one hundred sit-ups, and ten laps around this area."

"All of that in one day?!" I said, outraged.

"Baka," he said, his look of dislike nastier than usual. "That's only for the _morning_ training."

I looked to Sasori for help, but he simply smirked and said, "Have fun, Saya."

_This guy_, I said, clenching my teeth_, is seriously a sadist._

"I'll be watching you very closely," said Deidara, irritated that he was stuck with a failure for an apprentice. "Don't even try to stop before I tell you to. You won't get breakfast until you do everything."

**Gaara**

The night was over.

Night used to be my time of loneliness, but now it was extra time for me to work as the Kazekage.

Although my duty was demanding and tiring, I had not yet received fruits of my labor. People continued to fear me and see me only as a weapon. But now, I had a reason to live, and to me, that was all I needed. After doing everything I could, the only thing left for me to do was hope that someday… someone would become my friend.

_Uzumaki Naruto…._

"Gaara," Temari entered the office. "The list of candidates has not arrived yet. I know it's taking a while, but could you wait a few more months? Apparently Amegakure, The Village Hidden in Rain, is in the middle of their qualifying exams."

I looked away at the mention of the list of 'candidates'. My father's will had demanded for this, so I was forced to follow it, but I really had no intention to pursue it.

"I'm in no hurry to see that list." I said clearly. "Right now, I have no time for something like that."

She looked at me with that same pained expression on her face. "I know, Gaara. Sorry for bringing this upon you."

**Saya**

I… was… _dying_.

My arms were burning, my abdominals were aching, and my breathing was desperate as I ran around the huge practice area, closely followed by Deidara. Sasori was gone. For someone who played a seasonal sport, this was torture.

"Last lap, gaki!" Deidara called, his voice showing no sign of exhaustion. _Only one more_, I told myself. _Just hold out a little more_…

When I had completed the last lap, I collapsed, heaving. Surely I was going to die. _Deidara_… I thought bitterly, _one day…._

I rolled onto my back, feeling the pale morning light on my sweating face. Somehow, I understood now why Shikamaru admired clouds so much, as I gazed at the sky.

Deidara sat down next to me, hardly sweating at all. At that moment, I really didn't want to look at him, so I ignored his presence. I knew it wasn't his fault that I was undergoing training, but my dislike wasn't so understanding.

"It's hard, isn't it?" he said. "I remember when I first began to train, it was so hard that I thought I was going to die."

_Trying to empathize with me?_ I restrained myself from shooting back at him.

"You told me that everyone you knew looked at you as a failure," he said, his voice different. "But with me as your master, you cannot possibly fail. I'll make sure you become a shinobi, no matter what."

At those words, my hatred for him disappeared. That was all it took. From a simple hint that he cared, like before in the river, I felt no bitterness anymore. Without another word, he lifted me onto his back swiftly, though I was sure that I weighed more than he did.

"Let me… down…" I didn't even have the strength to fight back.

He grinned as he walked back to the base. "Try to stop me. I'll tell you this, though: no one I know, in this world full of talented shinobi, could handle what you did if he tried it for the first time. We seem strong, but that's because we've trained vigorously since we were kids. At one point, we were all weak. You are strong."

I laughed with all the strength I could muster. "Is that your way of comforting me?"

He laughed, too. "Did it work?"

I said nothing but grinned, my cheek on his warm shoulder.

He smiled at the touch. "Today, I'll make breakfast."

**Hidan**

Today was the day. Rolling my sleeves up, I approached Konan in the living room.

"Woman," I said, trying to be polite. "Be my teacher."

"Why?"she asked, narrowing her eyes. I twitched.

"It's—not like I _need_ your help… I just… wanted to clarify some things… in the kitchen…"

She sighed and stood. "Well, I suppose that's the nicest request I can expect from you."

"Oi, bitch, what's that supposed to mean?" _Shit. I lost control again_. She started to flare when Kisame and Kakuzu walked past, about to leave.

"We're leaving," said Kisame. "We won't be back for a few days; don't miss us too much!"

"Are you actually going to be away for a few days, Kakuzu?" I asked him, remembering yesterday's mission.

"What happened was simply unexpected." He said, not offended by the fact that I wanted him gone. "We'll take our time, I promise you."

That really pissed me off, but before I could swear at him, they left. Just after the door closed, however, it opened again, and Deidara walked in with Saya looking dead on his back.

"Oi, Deidara, what the hell did you do to her?" I said, pissed. "And I thought Kisame was bullshitting about you being in her pants. Why the fuck were you so rough? How am I going to challenge her now?"

He grinned. "Ah, well, I got carried away." For some reason, Sasori, who was in the living room, broke the puppet part he was working on.

"Saya-chan!" Konan's eyes were wide as she ran over to her. "What did he do to you?"

But Saya was so groggy her words came irregularly. "…I couldn't go any longer… so hot… sweaty and exhausting… can't stand…."

"HOLY FUCK!" Konan yelled. I stared at her; that was a first. "Deidara, you really did…!"

"What's going on?" Pain had entered the living room, no doubt, due to hearing his lover's voice.

"Nagato…" she said, pointing her finger at Deidara. "He… to Saya…." She gave Deidara the nastiest look she could muster. "You soiled our chibi! Our Saya-chan!"

At one glance at Deidara's face, I knew he was full of shit, but that didn't stop me from enjoying her reaction.

"But then again…." she reconsidered, looking Deidara up and down. "Way to go, Deidara. As long as she likes it and you don't torment her, I'll cheer you on! I would have to kill the guy who took her virginity if he wasn't in the Akatsuki." Everyone blinked. Who knew that Konan was a pervert? "But," she said, her voice sweet and menacing. "If you make her cry, you won't live to see another day."

I didn't know what was funnier: the fact that she thought Deidara did the gaki or the fact that she was rooting him on.

"I'll remember that," he said, smirking.

**Saya**

Recovery was progressing, slowly but surely. Before I realized that I was back at the base, Konan was tending to me, pressing a wet towel on my forehead and giving me water to drink.

"Are you alright, Saya?" she said, her voice a little too understanding for my liking. "So… how was Deidara?"

Remembering back to the Spartan training, I groaned. "It sucked."

For some strange reason, I saw Sasori shaking, his hands covering his face.

Konan grinned. "It wasn't that bad, right? I know he's demanding, but really, he's a good guy."

"It was rough." I said, though I took her words seriously. Sasori's weird shaking became more vigorous.

"You seemed exhausted, though." She said, her smile a bit different from her usual one, as if she knew something that she wasn't supposed to.

"Yeah," I said. "It was so long and intense; baka Deidara didn't even give me time to catch my breath."

At that, she made such a girly sound that I retreated, slightly disturbed. "But you secretly liked it, didn't you?" she said, grinning.

"No, it was the worst!" I insisted. "I felt like I was going to throw up!"

Sasori started to laugh, and that's when I realized why he was shaking.

"Sasori," I said, sweat dropping. "Are you alright?"

"Ignore him." said Deidara, who, for some reason, was looking really pissed at me.

"Deidara," I said, alarmed at his irritated expression. "Is there something… bothering you?"

Sasori laughed louder, and I couldn't help but create a mind-blank at the sweet sound of his laughter.

"No," he said, but his voice was quavering. "I'm just demanding and rough, aren't I?" he grabbed me, hauled me over his shoulder, and we left through the waterfall again.

"Deidara, wait—" I said, trying to get off. "What's wrong? Did it really make you that mad? Whatever it was, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it!"

"It sucked, did it?" he said, more to himself than to me. "What gives a kid like you the right…? I'll show you…" as soon as we reached the same clearing that I had been interrogated in, he put me down and tossed aside his cloak. "We're starting again."

"… Huh?" before I could react, he rushed in, giving me a blow to the upper chest right below my neck and slid his leg across my ankles to make sure I fell backward. Then he lowered himself above me.

"Deidara… what's going on?" I felt my heart race as his hands pinned my forearms to the ground.

His face was centimeters from mine. "You piss me off."

"Deidara," I said, confused. "What are you saying? I really don't understand—"

"And that's what makes you a kid," he said, his sapphire eyes gazing into mine with an intensity I had never seen before. Slowly I was starting to piece everything together.

"Wait a second, Deidara…" I said, realizing. "Are you—?"

"I won't wait," he said, his low voice resounding in my ears. "You need to know your place."

* * *

**Gakidomo - stupid kids**

**Tadaima - Traditional Japanese saying, "I'm home"**

**Okairi - Traditional Japanese saying, "Welcome home."**

**"I saw... a weasel on the way home..." - _Itachi_ means weasel in Japanese. The weasel is a sign of misfortune.**

**Sabaku no Gaara - Gaara of the Sand**

**If you have a preference to whom Saya will fall in love with, please let me know. I take everyone's opinions into consideration. Thank you for reading, and thank you especially if you have reviewed!**


	8. He's Back

**This release is later than usual, but I'm afraid it will probably stay this way. My time is slowly being taken away from me. I will not abandon this story, though.**

**I will probably have to edit this chapter; all of this is purely from my imagination.**

**Thank you, my beloved reviewers; you truly keep this story going.**

* * *

"Deidara… what's going on?" I felt my heart race as his hands pinned my forearms to the ground.

His face was centimeters from mine. "You piss me off."

"Deidara," I said, confused. "What are you saying? I really don't understand—"

"And that's what makes you a kid," he said, his sapphire eyes gazing into mine with an intensity I had never seen before. Slowly I was starting to piece everything together.

"Wait a second, Deidara…" I said, realizing. "Are you—?"

"I won't wait," he said, his low voice resounding in my ears. "You need to know your place."

* * *

"Deidara—" _Was he trying to hurt me, or…?_ "Deidara, stop—"

"Just because everyone thought it happened, are you going to make it true?" asked Sasori, emerging from the trees. "That's unlike you, Deidara. What would you call it: very inartistic."

"Sasori no Danna," Deidara retreated, letting me breathe again. "Why is it that everything I do pisses you off?"

"Why, indeed," he said. I curled into myself on the ground in disbelief. I had been cornered, by both of them, within hours of each other. _Why me?_ "The hormones of teenage boys sure are demanding."

"What was that?" Deidara challenged, though his voice calm. "You must've misunderstood, Danna. I was only thinking of teaching her a lesson, not taking advantage of her body, like a certain person was doing last night."

"And who would that person be?"

"The look on Itachi's face after he left your room last night said it all, un." he clarified. "I'm not willing to stoop that low."

_This is not about me_, I told myself. _It's not my fault._ But then why did I feel like it was? Nevertheless, I needed to fix this.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I said to Deidara, standing. "Sasori really didn't do anything like that yesterday. We were just talking."

Deidara smirked, looking from me to Sasori. "Well, it seems like she's taken your side for now, so I'll pretend it didn't happen. But Danna, remember, she's my apprentice for now, and my punishments for her behavior and inconsistency have nothing to do with you."

I held my breath, waiting for the blow.

"Saya," Sasori called, not taking his eyes off Deidara. "The reason I am out here is not that I was interested in what you and Deidara were doing, but I was simply going to Hikarigakure for business. Pain told me, since I would encounter you on the way, to let you know that you will leave for the vacation home in one week. That's all."

He placed his kasa on his head and left, disappearing with his speed.

"I still don't know what I did wrong," I said, wanting to make it really clear that I had no clue why he tackled me. He turned to me, his expression unreadable.

"It's nothing."

"It didn't seem like nothing."

"Must be your imagination."

"You _assaulted_ me."

"You were just stupid and slow."

I opened my mouth to retort, but I didn't have anything to say to that. Turning away, I bit my lip, walking towards the lake. "Baka Deidara."

"What was that?" he called from behind, his voice back to its usual bold arrogance.

"Nothing," I said, continuing to walk.

"It didn't sound like nothing."

"Must be your imagination." I grinned as I pictured the annoyed look in his face.

"I'm carrying some new bombs with me. I've wanted to test them out, un."

And that caused me to run, but he quickly caught up, pushing me to the ground again.

"Is this going to become a routine?" I asked, looking up at him, his scope visible since his bangs were hanging and almost touching my face.

"If you keep running away it will," he replied, grinning at my cheeks, which involuntarily flushed at the proximity. Whenever someone was that close, no matter who it was, I felt uncomfortable. "And since you like running so much, why don't we play a game?"

"It's still morning," I insisted. "Are you making me resume training already?"

"Who said it was for training?" he pointed out, the smirk on his face making me nervous. "This will be good for me to find out your escaping and tracking abilities. I will give you thirty minutes to run and hide, anywhere you want. You will cover your tracks and leave no trail. If I find you before noon, you lose, and you will do one thing for me, anything I want. If I don't find you before noon, you win, and I will do one thing for you, anything you want."

I stared at him, trying to keep my expression stoic. "I'll take you on that bet." I replied. Little did he know, I was jumping with anticipation inside. Hiding was one of the things I did best.

He leaned back. "Do anything to me until you're satisfied that I won't cheat."

I nodded. _This was different._

**Deidara**

She rose beneath me, sitting upright. Her hands came to the sides of my head, gently pulling down my forehead protector until it covered my eyes. I couldn't help but grin; she thought she was making me vulnerable, but I didn't need eyes to keep her in check. I stopped grinning, however, when her hands moved down and into my cloak when my body was only covered by netted shinobi under armor. Her hands moved down the front, making me catch my breath.

_What is she…?!_ Where was she trying to reach? But her hands found what she was looking for; my clay pouch. She was definitely doing this on purpose, I thought. If she wasn't so dimwitted, I would have been sure that she was teasing me.

"So you won't send trackers after me," she explained, slipping out from under me and walking away.

_Baka_, I thought. She didn't even bother to cover my ears; I knew exactly which direction she was heading by the sound of her feet on the grass. That was mistake number one.

**Saya**

If there was one thing I could hope to win against him, it was this sort of game. I knew he was intelligent and gifted, so I would have to give it my all. He was a prodigy, able to outsmart and defeat Gaara, the fifth Kazekage with the legendary bijuu, Shuukaku, along with other Jinchuuriki. His combat skills were so superior that he was able to fight evenly with Team Gai, consisted of two Jounin and two Chuunin, three of whom intensely specialized in hand-to-hand combat, all at the same time, with _no_ _arms_. And to top it all, he was originally a long-range fighter, using strange explosion techniques and possessing excellent tracking and locating abilities.

_So what's his weakness?_ I sweat dropped after thinking about that question for a while, walking around and covering my trail. Did he even have a weakness?

_Well, Sasuke defeated him_, I thought, but that wasn't exactly true. Deidara had committed suicide in attempt to kill Sasuke, and Sasuke barely escaped, having to sacrifice another for his life. That didn't really count. Shaking my head, I would have to talk to Deidara later about never using that technique, ever.

"SAAAYA-KUUUUUUN!"

I yelled and jumped in response to the sudden disturbance in the peace and covered my ears. Turning, I spotted Tobi run towards me with his arms spread outwards. Sweat-dropping, I started running away, praying that Deidara wouldn't hear.

**Deidara**

Sitting on the grass blindfolded, I chuckled as I heard his voice. _Tobi's back_.

**Akatsuki Base**

Konan and Hidan, who were working in the kitchen, stopped.

"Is that Tobi?" Konan asked, sweat dropping.

"Who else would it be?" Hidan was too concentrated on the strawberries he was washing to care.

"I don't know how Leader can just ignore his stupidity," Zetsu's dark side said as he sat at the kitchen table.

"I think Tobi's funny!" Zetsu's light side said, grinning.

**Hikarigakure**

Sasori stopped walking through the lively streets of the village and looked back at the distant mountains. _He's back_, he thought, grinning.

**Somewhere in the Country**

Kisame and Kakuzu paused from walking for a moment, looking at each other.

"Did you just—?" Kisame started.

"Yeah, I did." Kakuzu replied. They both looked back down the path back to the base. They both had that same feeling: that chill down their spines of the return of their weirdest and most dangerous member.

**Saya**

As always, my efforts to run away were futile, and he caught me in an embrace so suffocating that I felt my back crack.

"Tobi," I hissed, "I can't breathe."

He let go, and even though I couldn't see his face, the atmosphere around him was so freaking _pink_ and _happy_ that I knew he was probably grinning from ear to ear.

"Baka!" I said, grabbing his arm and running in another direction. "Be quiet! Deidara definitely heard you!"

"Are you running away from Deidara?" he asked, running along happily.

"Yeah, and if I get caught before noon, I lose!"

"I like games! Tobi will help you!"

Sweat-dropping, I stopped and turned to him. "Are you really going to be like that for this, Madara?"

"Madara? I don't know who you're talking about, Saya-kun!" he replied, skipping.

"I'll take that as a yes," I said, "Okay, Tobi, I need to erase my tracks and make sure he doesn't find me before midday. Can you help me with that?"

He nodded, and I couldn't help but smile at his cuteness. If Madara stayed like this, I thought, I really wouldn't mind him as my partner.

**Deidara**

Time was up. I jumped and removed the blindfold, eager to retrieve my clay from the victim (Saya).

Her footsteps were clearly visible on the grass, heading towards the lake. _Was it really that easy?_ Walking further, I stopped in the middle of the forest, where the tracks had split three ways.

"Is it Tobi?" But all of the tracks looked too small to be Tobi's feet, so I started to initiate my true tracking abilities.

_I'll find you, Saya, and when I do…._ I grinned, already knowing what punishment would be in store for my victim.

**Saya**

"I'm hungry." said Tobi as we hid in a tall tree.

"Shut up," I hissed, looking around to see if Deidara was close by. "He just started, and he has an hour to find us."

"But I don't want to wait for an hour!" he complained. After hitting his head, I turned to see if there was any way I could let him go without Deidara noticing. Everything was planned out, and I walked through my steps again and again until I thought of every loophole that Deidara could use, most of which included Tobi.

"Oi, are you sure you want to do that?" When I looked at Tobi again, his mask was off, and he was smirking at me. "Hit me again and I'll give you a personal reason to regret it."

"Then be quiet!" I whispered, keeping my eyes on the ground way below. It all happened very quickly. I was pressed against the tree bark and he sat in front of me, trapping me between the trunk and his back. His hands grabbed mine and pulled them over his shoulder, as if he were carrying me on his back.

"What are you doing?!" I struggled, but his body wouldn't budge.

"I just wanted to do this." He said, shrugging. "It makes me feel loved. And this way, you can't move, so you won't hit me."

"You—!" I tried kicking and shoving, but I quickly gave up. "Alright, I get it… I'll stay like this; just shut up."

"What was that?" he said loudly, looking over his shoulder.

"Your ear is right in front of my mouth, dolt." I murmured, knowing he was just screwing with me. "Shut up!"

"Dolt?" he continued obnoxiously. "Did Saya-kun just call me a dolt?"

"Madara, if you don't shut up—"

"You'll what?" he said, daring me to say more. "Really, I'm interested to hear it. What will you, a weak little girl, do to me?"

"_Little girl_?" I gritted my teeth.

"You really do need to know your place, gaki. You're speaking to the leader right now."

"Pain's the leader."

"You know that I'm the true leader."

"Fine; you're the real one. Just please, be quiet!"

"No. It's fun to piss you off. You're cute when you're angry."

"_Cute_?" My eye twitched, and I wanted to strangle him right there. "Stupid orange—"

"Ah, senpai!" he called. "Saya-kun is doing such naughty things to me! Save me, Deidara-senpai!"

"B-Baka!" I said, turning red. "Shut up! He really will hear us!"

"Oh, Saya-kun! Don't do that!"

Not able to hear his voice like that anymore, I took my hands, wrenched them out of his grasp, and covered his mouth, muffling his words. He put up a show of resisting until I pressed his head firmly to mine, his hair tickling my forehead. I knew he was letting me do this, but it didn't stop me from doing it. I felt a smile on his lips, and he relaxed into me, almost as if he were enjoying the situation.

_This guy…_ _I'm going to kill him._

"Boo!" a low, bold, and attractive voice said behind me. Exasperated, I let go of Madara and he quickly put his mask back on before Deidara saw his face. _I hate that voice._

"Looks like I win, gaki." Deidara was looking extremely smug, and that pissed me off even more.

"Tobi…" I could almost feel the flames emitting from my body.

"Hiie!" he jumped and ran.

"So, about the punishment," Deidara started, and I turned to him.

"I want a rematch," I said. "Tobi ruined it."

"No rematches," he grinned, pulling me down with him. I couldn't even look him in the face. I hated losing, and losing to Deidara was adding insult to injury.

"What do you want me to do?" I gritted my teeth.

"You're taking a bath with me tonight."

I lost my balance, fighting not to fall flat on my face. "_What?!_"

"Just meet me in the baths when I tell you," he said, as if it were nothing. "I've taken baths with the others before."

"They're _guys_!" I said, completely scarlet. "I'm a _girl_!"

"Konan's not a guy."

"_You've taken a bath with Konan?!_"

"… No."

"_Then they were all guys, baka!_" My face was in my hands. His stupidity was too overwhelming.

"Don't be like that; just take a bath with me."

This time I _did_ fall flat on my face. "How can you say that so casually?!"

"Don't be stingy; I didn't take a bath with anyone in a while. I get lonely."

"_Then ask one of the guys!_"

"They're all boring. And well, Tobi's just… Tobi."

"That's because they're _guys_! Obviously taking a bath with a _girl_ is going to be more… more…." And I turned even redder, not able to finish the sentence. "A-Anyways, I refuse!"

"I refuse your refusal." We glared at each other for the longest time. "You _lost_." He pointed out, and I felt my pride stabbed. "Take responsibility."

_Th-This guy…._ I was going to murder him.

**Konan**

I was determined to make Saya feel at home with the Akatsuki. My wish to have another female to talk to, a little sister figure to look after, has been graciously fulfilled. I was not about to let it go. If strengthening her relationship with Deidara would make her stay, I was willing to do it.

"Nagato," I said, pondering as I replaced flowers on the coffee table. "When we were young, what did we do to like each other?"

He sipped his tea at the kitchen table, thinking. "It just turned out that way naturally. We knew each other for so long."

"But what separated us and made us a real couple?" I asked, really concerted.

He turned his head, looking in space. "… We live together… have sex… share the same bed…."

Sweat dropping, I bowed my head. _Are those really the only differences?_

"And we have an unspoken understanding," he continued, still gazing into nothing. "You know me better than anyone else does. We have no secrets, and you are the most important person in my life."

I walked over to him, wrapping my arms around his neck from behind. "I want Saya to have a place here," I said lovingly into his ear. "If you love me and wish for my happiness, can you help me?"

He grinned. "What are you planning now?"

"Why do you always assume I have an underlying reason for everything?" I asked, but with a smirk on my face.

"Because you do."

I turned him around. "But my lovey-dovey tactic worked, right?"

"It always does."

**Saya**

It was lunchtime, and I was famished. After spending the morning doing crazy Deidara exercises without breakfast, I was ready to attack the fridge when we arrived back at the base. But, of course, heaven wouldn't permit it. To be more specific, _Konan_ wouldn't permit it.

"Saya, when are you going to become an official member?" she asked, blocking my way into the kitchen.

"Official member?" I repeated, blinking. "Don't you just let one in?" Tobi's addition, after all, was less than ceremonious.

"Right now, you're just boarding here," she said. "When you become one of us, you go on missions and vow your loyalty to the Akatsuki. It's actually quite different. While you're a great contribution right now with your information, you aren't exactly a true member yet."

That struck me hard. It wasn't a blow, but it alarmed my mind, which had been in a state of ignorant bliss. Like many other things, my situation could not be this simple. "I don't know," I replied, my hunger fading as I turned to the dorms. "I think I'll take a shower."

"Ah, wait, Saya-chan!" For some reason, she looked flustered. "I, um, have to prune flowers by the lake, but I don't have time today, so will you and Deidara do it for me?"

"Sure," Deidara replied, but I wasn't so eager. It wasn't the activity that caused me to hesitate; it was the thought that I would have to spend an awkward afternoon picking flowers with _him_.

"Deidara, Leader has to speak with you," Sasori entered the room, his expression blank as usual. "Konan, I'll join Saya in his place; Itachi can't watch over her at the moment."

"You make me sound like a kid," I said, a little exasperated.

"To me, you _are_ a kid." he pointed out, grinning. I paused at his smile, almost forgetting what we were supposed to do in the first place.

**Konan**

I hesitated at Sasori's offer. _Was it wise to add Sasori into the connection?_ I shrugged.

"Then have fun," I said, smiling. Maybe this would become interesting. _May the best man win._

**Saya**

My hunger had returned and the shower forgotten.

"Sasori," I said while making myself a sandwich, "Do you ever want to eat or sleep? I don't think I could live without eating, even if I didn't need to."

He was sitting at the kitchen table, thinking. "Such desires are trivial when I consider the benefits of living in a puppet's body."

"You don't ever miss it?" I asked, cutting the sandwich into two triangles and bringing the plate to the table.

"Food is only for nourishment and energy," he answered. "It's not much to miss."

"What's your favorite food? You have to miss that."

"Don't speak when you're eating; I can barely understand you. And I see you have made a colossal sandwich."

I raised it proudly, showing him its full extent. "It's my super turkey-cheese-tomato-lettuce-cucumber-with-mayo sandwich!"

He stared, his expression unreadable. "Stop talking. You almost spat food in my face."

"No, I didn't." But when he mentioned it, the gesture became very tempting. "So what was your favorite food? You look really lean, so I figured you didn't like eating much, but you must have liked something."

"Shut up and eat your sandwich."

The lake was still with the occasional ripples from a light breeze or a drifting leaf. Sparkling, it reflected the white sunlight, the blue sky, the dark mountains, the flowerless sakura trees, and the red maple trees. I stood in the flowery meadow, looking around at the most beautiful scenery that I had ever seen in my life.

"I could live here forever," I sighed, lying on my back, feeling the soft grass beneath me.

"Does that imply that you'll join us?" Sasori asked, sitting next to me.

Shielding my eyes from the sun with my forearm, I thought about it for a while before answering. "I don't know."

"You doubt us."

I had nothing to say to that. Yes, I did doubt the Akatsuki. No matter how they insisted on my joining or how they promised not to do evil, I knew that they were, deep down, an uncaring, selfish organization. Joining them would make the truly good people my enemies, but I couldn't help feeling a strange warmth in my heart when I thought of the Akatsuki. For the first time, not only _my_ life depended on a decision to choose the happy, selfish path or the righteous path.

"Saya…"

I tensed to his low beautiful voice. _Don't say my name in that voice._

"Saya… you have no true place anywhere, do you?"

Those words struck through me like lightning. Even though I knew it was true deep inside, hearing him say it hurt much more. I couldn't look at his face. It wasn't because I didn't want to look at his face; I just didn't want him to see my face.

"What makes you say that?" If I remembered correctly, I had told him nothing about my personal life.

"It's just…" I looked at him, wondering why he was hesitating, but I froze. His expression was thoughtful, almost feeling. He picked up a white flower, gazing at it. "You belong in the natural world, like this place. I can't see you looking happier anywhere else."

I sat up, leveling myself with his face. "I don't understand you, Sasori. You hated me so much before, but now… I might be hallucinating, but it seems like you care about my feelings. Why?"

His crimson hair ruffled slightly in the breeze, and his autumn eyes shone in the light. "It has only been three dawns since I met you, yet you speak as if we've known each other for years."

"That is my fault," I explained, starting to pick flowers myself. "I already know more about you than what is polite to know at this phase."

"And what is this phase?" he turned to me, his artistically crafted face illuminated.

I felt my cheeks gradually warming. "Uh, well, I want to be your friend."

"And, in your perspective, what is a friend?"

"A true friend is someone you can trust with your life. You would know everything about me, all my flaws and secrets, and still like me as a person. Friendship is sometimes stronger than brotherhood. A true friend is someone you love more than you love yourself."

His gaze suddenly turned startled. "You want me to love you more than I love myself?"

"Ah, no, that's… um…." My cheeks were scarlet now. He, in his lovely voice, said such words…

"Then," his look was almost overwhelming, "Do you love me more than you love yourself?"

I looked away, wondering why I brought it up in the first place. Why was talking with Sasori so uncomfortable?

"That's… um…."

"You realize," he turned my face to him, "That your silence is your confession."

I was forced to look into his eyes, but the sight was overwhelming.

"You love me," he said.

"B-Baka," I tried to turn away, but he held my face close.

"Do I have to force the truth out of you again?"

"We've only known each other for three days…"

"But you have known me for years."

I tried to think of only one thing: he's a puppet, he's a puppet, he's a _puppet_…

"I know your feelings well," he said, smirking. "I just want to hear you say it."

"Stop toying with my feelings!" I said, trying to pull back again. "You really like this game, don't you? You have me between your fingers, confusing me and keeping me inside your cage. Stop tormenting me when you feel nothing for me!"

"I have no heart," he said, bringing my hand to his chest. "The only thing I can feel is chakra through my body. Your hand, though so warm, can only be felt by the soul inside here. You are right; I do not love you. I don't have the heart to."

My hand, which lingered on his soul, started to move up his neck and onto his face. I knew he couldn't feel it, yet I couldn't stop myself from doing it. "I hate you," I said, feeling my eyes water. "You won't ever love me, yet you'll never let me leave you. Why do I have to go through his kind of torture, Sasori?"

"Because you love me," he answered, his voice gentle. I stood and started to run away, but he pulled me back, throwing me to the ground.

"Let's stop this," I said as he lowered himself onto me. "Sasori, please get off—"

"Kiss me," he said. His words shot through my heart.

"Sasori, stop this. I can't do that."

"Why?" he asked, his eyes piercing into mine, his deep red locks brushing my face. "I can't feel it, anyway."

"Sasori!" The torment was too much; I flipped over, pinning him to the ground. I knew he let me, but I didn't care. Slipping his cloak off, I saw his bare torso and the part of his soul on his chest. He helped me take his cloak off, slipping his arms out of the sleeves, smirking the entire time.

"Are you going to do it to me?" he asked, almost anticipating it.

"No," I replied, my hand on his soul. When he suddenly realized what I was about to do, his arms came up to stop me, but it was too late. I pulled out his soul.

Standing, I held his body onto my back, and carried the flowers in one of my hands as I walked back to the base.

* * *

**Again, I would like your opinion on who Saya's lover should be. Saya's unrequited love for Sasori may have been revealed, yet there are several I am considering:**

**- Sasori**

**- Deidara**

**- Tobi/Madara**

**- ***** the mysterious (not really) new character will be revealed in a few chapters**

**- Itachi***

**- Hidan***

*** - I'm just putting them there because many people like to make unexpected pairings; my original intention is to have them act as brotherly guardians.**

**Thanks for reading. If you have a moment, please review. A writer is nothing without the encouragement of readers.**


	9. Bonding

**Writing this story is my comfort and happiness when life is hard. Right now, life is hard.**

**I don't own Naruto, but someday I would like to call a story worthy of people's time and enjoyment my own.**

* * *

**Saya**

"So let me get this straight," Konan said after I had explained the situation to the living room as a whole, "You ripped out his soul?"

"Uh..." I nervously looked around at Konan, Deidara, Hidan, Itachi, Pain, and Tobi. "'Ripped out' is a bit harsh, but the concept's about right."

They stared as I held out his soul compartment, feeling a bit odd that I was holding Sasori in my hand.  
"How the flying fuck did you do it?!" Hidan grabbed my shoulders, shaking me until I felt dizzy. "I _always_ challenge him, and I've never been able to rip out his freaking soul before! You're hiding something from us, aren't you? You're really a Jinchuuriki, aren't you?!"

"Hidan-san," Itachi said quietly. "She's going to break."

"God-fucking-dammit," Hidan roughly let go of me, his pride clearly hurt.

"I just caught him off guard," I said, trying to refocus my eyes on him. "It wasn't my fighting skill or anything."

"What's his weakness?" he demanded.

"Uh…" I thought carefully about my choice of words. "Deceiving and taking him by surprise?" Even I wasn't stupid enough to say, "I pinned him to the ground and took off his cloak, leading him to think that I was going to violate his body."

"How did you do it?" Hidan was getting impatient. Although he was a hot head, he wasn't dumb.

"Well… I was cornered first," I wanted to make it clear that it wasn't completely my fault. "And… he underestimated me by going easy."

"She seduced him," Tobi whispered to Deidara, who then tensed.

"Tobi…" If he made up any other nonsense…. "I've been wanting to talk to you." I did not forget that he was the reason I lost the game with Deidara. Grabbing his arm, I dragged him to the dorm hallway.

"Wait, Saya-kun!" Konan called after me.

"I'll put Sasori's soul back, I promise!" I answered before entering my room and shutting the door. "Eventually," I added to myself, turning to Tobi. "Tobi, no, Madara, we need to make some rules for our… partnership."

He took off his mask and sat on my bed, making himself quite comfortable.

"You can't just deliberately make me lose a game to laugh at my failure!" I said, irritated. "If you're my partner, you're supposed to _help_ me. Because of your goofing around, I have to take a bath with Deidara. How're you going to make it up to me?"

The stupid smirk on his face that was growing wider and wider as I spoke was really starting to annoy me. "Then I'll take a bath with you to make it up to you."

"Baka!" I slid down the door, my head in my hands. "Madara, I know you're enjoying poking fun at me, but if you keep doing this, I'll have to get even."

"Oh?" I heard movement, and when I looked up he was in front of me, lowering himself to my eye level. "And how are you planning to do that?"

"I'll figure something out," I answered as I glared at him, not about to lose to his smirk.

"Why don't you start right now?" he suggested.

"No," I said through gritted teeth. "I don't have time like you. Right now I need to train with Deidara; see you, _ossan_*." I stood triumphantly at the grin on his face, which turned into amusement from my daring, and left the room with my own smirk on my face.

"What's so funny?"

I did a double-take at the sight of Deidara, who looked strange. He didn't have his usual air of daring, yet strangely refreshing, arrogance. His blue eyes, which usually shined in bold confidence, were dull when they looked at me.

"Deidara?" I said uncertainly, momentarily forgetting what he asked me. "Oh, it's nothing."

"We're resuming training," he said briskly, turning to leave. I followed, wondering what had caused his expression to look that solemn.

**Deidara**

**Thirty Minutes Earlier**

Leader was waiting for me on the small cliff above the waterfall. I wondered what he had to say to me; he usually never spoke to me privately. Nevertheless, he was the leader and this meeting was supposedly considered a privilege on my part, so I walked up to him.

"Deidara, you have been the closest to Saya since she came here, am I right?" I was taken aback, but grateful for his direct way of speaking. If there was one thing I liked best about Leader, it was that he always got to the point.

"I suppose so." I replied, never faltering in my composure, but giving him a bit more respect than I gave the others. "I think she may have been close to her partner, Tobi, as well."

"Tobi is… a special case," he said. "I trust him, but he's a newer member, and his actions are always unpredictable. You are young, very close to her age, and mature."

I grinned; there was no need to explain that case. Little did I know then, that Leader was talking about something entirely different.

"I have already told you that I want you and Saya to go to the vacation home for a week and focus on her training without much outside disturbance." His expression was neutral, but I could feel something coming. "Well, circumstances have changed. We have information about the Shuukaku Jinchuuriki that can benefit us greatly under one condition."

I immediately caught on to his thinking. "What are you going to use her for?" I asked, alarmed. "She has no experience; don't we need her for her memories?"

"Her memories have helped us realize that we need her for this mission," he replied calmly. "The retrieval and extraction of the Jinchuuriki, if done forcefully by you and Sasori, which we originally planned, would cost us Sasori's life and both of your arms."

"So we're not good enough." I concluded for him, my pride angered.

"Deidara, I would genuinely regret the loss of your abilities and Sasori's life if they were lost," he said. "It's because you are too valuable to lose that I want to use Saya."

"So you want to trade our lives for Saya's?" I said, not seeing his logic.

"Not if you train her right," he said, grinning. "And I don't plan to use her as a weapon, but rather as a peacemaker."

"Because the Kazekage would gladly become allies with us," I replied sarcastically.

"Saya is an agreeable person," he explained, "She's a little awkward at first, but she's very open and likeable. And I heard that the Kazekage has no true friends. If she gains his trust, then perhaps she can persuade him to rid himself of the monster inside him."

"You want her to convince him that he should die to get rid of Shuukaku?" I asked, skeptical.

"The elder of the village, Chiyo, will revive him in exchange for her own life."

"Under what circumstances?" I asked in disbelief. "Old people don't care what happens to their villages; they're going to die soon anyway. How do you know she'll sacrifice herself for him under different circumstances than in Saya's memories?"

"Do you perhaps care about the life of the Jinchuuriki?" he asked, raising a brow. "That is unlike you, Deidara."

"That's not it," I said, looking at the mountains in the distance and thinking of Saya's expression when she realizes that she killed someone. "Saya's not ready for this sort of thing; she won't agree to kill him. You know she's not like us."

"Saya will be capable physically and mentally of killing the Jinchuuriki." He said, his voice firm. "She will be prepared physically, because you will train her vigorously in isolation, not for one week, but for one month. She will be prepared mentally, because if she really comes to care about him, then she'll find a way to convince the old woman to revive him."

"She won't agree to this," I insisted, thinking of the danger Saya would be in. "She's not the sort of person to gain someone's trust and friendship and then betray him."

"As I said, if she finds that she cares for him, she'll find a way to save his life. Remember that everything I've told you is in her memories, Deidara. She knows better than us how to connect to him and how to relate to that old woman."

"Even if you justify the actions, you cannot justify the underlying reason. She has her own sense of justice, Leader. She will never accept this mission when she knows it's to give us yet another Bijuu, another monster to strengthen our power."

"You are missing the point, Deidara," he said, looking into the vast sky. "Our ultimate goal is for her to care about him, to create feelings for him. Saya will give his Bijuu to us in return for his happiness. She'll rid his life of the very thing that has made it lonely and miserable, and if she succeeds in the revival, he'll live on to be a normal, happier person."

"You seem to have much confidence in her," I said, not liking this idea at all.

"It's not only me," he said quietly, more to himself than to me. "I have faith that she'll succeed, and if she does, we indirectly gain an important ally, not to mention another Bijuu."

"And what if she fails?"

"I won't let her die," he said with such confidence that I could hardly disagree. "I'm sending with her the greatest shield, after all. You, Itachi, and Sasori will go with her. With your long-distance and tracking abilities, Itachi's eyes to manipulate, and Sasori's protective traps, she cannot possibly die. Itachi and Sasori are already aware of the plan. You all will come back alive, successful or not, together."

"All of us?" I said, surprised. "Why not Tobi instead of Itachi? He's not weak, and he's her partner. Itachi should be used for another, more needed position."

"Itachi possesses the eyes to regularly look into her memories, if needed. Besides, Tobi has his own missions I have assigned him."

"Well," I said, feeling a bit more composed that I was going to accompany her, "I don't really have a choice, do I?"

"You always have a choice," he reminded me. "Some choices are just easy to make."

I grinned, turning to leave.

"Deidara," he called after me, and I stopped. "One more thing. If you find that you fall in love with Saya, so be it."

The smile on my face was so warm, so gentle that I was glad Leader couldn't see it. "Did Konan tell you to say that?" I asked him.

"She pleaded me to; she's grown very fond of her, as have I."

This made me turn around, showing my sincere smile to him, but without any embarrassment. "You have changed, Pain-san."

He grinned in return, but said nothing. The wind blew past us as we exchanged understanding expressions. Then, turning, I walked back towards our home.

**Saya**

"Um," I said, not wanting to anger him in his current state, but too anxious to let it go. "Do I still have to take a bath with you tonight?"

We were walking to the practice grounds again, and he hadn't looked at me or spoken to me at all.

"Deidara, I know something happened to make you like this, but can you please answer me?" With his back turned to me, he seemed so cold; it wasn't right. "Deidara, it's okay if you talk to me. I'm right here, aren't I? I'm not going anywhere."

Then he turned, the same old grin on his face. "You're staying with me," he agreed, his eyes shining brighter than ever before. "And you're taking a nice long bath with me tonight. We'll go though some true bonding."

After having a rather quiet dinner (Kisame, Kakuzu, Hidan, and Tobi were out for the night), I walked to the baths. The room was spacious, with two pool-like baths. One was small, fit for maybe four or five occupants, but the other was as large as a normal-sized pool. Both were filled with hot water, and the heat was absorbed in the wooden walls, creating a humid, steamy atmosphere. The ceiling, which had open shafts for air from the outside, relieved the room from becoming a sauna. I undressed behind the changing curtains and wrapped myself firmly with a large towel, showing no more of my body than usual as I slipped into the incredibly soothing water.

"You look happy," Deidara said as he walked into the room, already undressed, with only a towel around his waist.

I suddenly sat up, looking away from him and pulling my towel more tightly around my body to make absolute sure that nothing was revealed. He laughed and walked over, sitting on the edge next to me.

"Go in the other bath," I said, not able to look at him. "I'm in this one."

"The other one's too small."

"You'll be by yourself!"

But he slid down next to me anyway, taking out the tie in his hair and letting the locks loose. I moved away, paranoid.

"Does it look that weird when my hair is down?" he asked, apparently hurt by my determination to stay away from him.

"It's not that," I said, wondering if my cheeks were red from the heat. "Y-You're a guy, and we're in the same bath."

"You say that," he said, not making any move to approach me, "Yet you covered yourself more than when you wear your normal clothes."

"I'm not so open with showing my body, even around girls." I said. "How do you expect me to feel around you?"

"You're really that nervous, aren't you?" he said, amused. "Don't worry; I just want to talk. Taking a bath with someone else is really soothing."

"I don't see how," I replied, still restless.

"Look," he said, clearly having fun, "I'm not interested in your naked body, so even if you take off that towel, I won't do anything."

Even though I knew that should have been comforting, I felt insulted. His words were considerate, but his tone was condescending. "Alright, I get it," I said, trying to act unhurt, "You think I'm hideous. It's not exactly offensive coming from someone like you."

"Someone like me?" he asked. Now _he_ was insulted. "Saya, don't act like you know what I think of you. When did I say that you were hideous?"

"Uh, that's, um…" I couldn't really think about much other than the fact that he spoke my name for once.

"If you think that the only explanation for my respect for your body is that I find it unattractive, you think pretty lowly of me." He moved closer now. "Do I have to make a move to show that you aren't unsightly?"

"That's not what I meant," I said, backing away. "I didn't mean to assume bad things about you."

He didn't stop until my back was against the edge. "If I had no heart and only lusted for a woman's body, I would have ripped off your towel and taken you here. Don't assume that you don't make men attracted to you; you'll get raped someday."

I stared at him in disbelief. _Was he… trying to make me feel better?_ He had his own twisted way of doing it, but I smiled, hearing the underlying meaning behind his harsh words clearly.

"Why are you smiling?" he asked, annoyed that I didn't get his seriousness, but I understood it completely. "It's not a funny—"

I started to take off my towel, which cut him off abruptly. At first he thought he was hallucinating, but then immediately ceased my hand.

"Did you not hear what I just said?" he looked angry for some reason. "If you do this around any guy, you'll be in trouble!"

"Deidara, you're not any guy," I said, still grinning. "And I trust you; you said that you wouldn't do anything, right?"

"I know what I said, but you shouldn't do this," his hand was firmly on mine, stopping it from loosening my towel. "Don't make an exception for me."

"It's alright," I said, no longer doubting him. "Really."

The assurance in my eyes made him unconsciously loosen his grip, and I slowly unwrapped the towel. His eyes widened, and when I finished, he fell over, practically drowning.

"See, I told you that you didn't have to worry!" I said, grinning brightly as I tossed the towel aside. "I'm wearing another towel underneath this one!"

* * *

**I laugh at all of you who actually thought Saya was going to strip for him (I am a cruel tease).**

*** ossan - old man, gramps**

**Thanks for reading, and please review!**

**Current Pairing Votes (from reviews and messages)**

**Deidara: 6**

**Sasori: 4**

**Tobi/Madara: 4**

**Itachi: 0**

**Hidan: 0**

**Haha, poor Itachi and Hidan don't get any love. I was pleasantly surprised that people liked the idea of Tobi/Madara being with Saya. I honestly cannot choose, so I need my lovely readers' opinions.**


	10. Hurt

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

**....**

* * *

"It's alright," I said, no longer doubting him. "Really."

The assurance in my eyes made him unconsciously loosen his grip, and I slowly unwrapped the towel. His eyes widened, and when I finished, he fell over, practically drowning.

"See, I told you that you didn't have to worry!" I said, grinning brightly as I tossed the towel aside. "I'm wearing another towel underneath this one!"

Before I knew it, he pushed me underwater, and the hot rush to my face unpleasantly surprised me. When I resurfaced, his face was red and he looked frustrated.

"You're so… _dense_, un." he said.

* * *

Two weeks passed since I had arrived at the Akatsuki base, and I was already somewhat adjusting to the incredibly strange lifestyle. During that time, I was forced to accept that I was going to stay in this world for a while, so I tried to act as normal as possible—which turned out to be impossible. In addition to special training with Deidara and interrogation sessions with Itachi, I was now, for some ridiculous reason, taking dance classes with Konan and music classes with Pain.

I still hadn't returned Sasori's soul to his body, but that was under Pain's orders; I suspected that he knew what the situation between us was.

Tobi, meanwhile, drew a family tree of the Akatsuki, which Hidan destroyed several times, but was being redrawn again and again. Tobi now called us by our role in the family, and it was driving some of the members insane.

I could count on sharing meals daily with Itachi, Hidan, and Deidara: Itachi, since he was supposed to be "looking after" me, Hidan, because he wanted to "keep track of the enemy's progress", and Deidara, since he was "always hungry when we finished training, anyway".

And now, here I was again, in the baths with Deidara. This time it was the punishment for losing to him in a race, but secretly, I didn't think it was such a punishment. It was actually easy to relax and talk to him about things, and I was wearing only one towel today.

After staying in the bath for a while, we went to change our clothes. When he dried his hair, I caught a glimpse of his left eye through his towel.

"Deidara, where's your scope?" I asked. "Is it not waterproof?"

"It is," he replied. "But it's nice for my eye to feel fresh air, so I take it off sometimes. I catch things that I didn't see before, like whatever's wrapped in that towel you set aside."

Taken aback, I unwrapped the object in the towel, which happened to be Sasori's soul compartment, and turned to Deidara.

"I didn't think you'd notice," I said, taking it in my hand. "Sasori can only feel with this, so I thought… maybe so he could be less cold…." My voice died out; I was too embarrassed to continue.

"You still care about him that much? It's been over a week since you dissembled him." he asked, his voice slightly different.

It was probably time for him to know. We had known each other long enough, and I certainly felt like we were friends for years. "I… think I like him," I answered, staring at Sasori's soul, wondering if he could feel my hands holding him. "Itachi saw his childhood story in my memories, and I don't know if he told you anything, but Sasori isn't completely a bad person."

But when I saw the somber expression on his face, I knew I had said something wrong.

**Deidara**

"Saya," I said, saying her name for once. "Do you seriously think that we're not bad people? I've been a bomb terrorist ever since I was a kid, and Sasori has killed more people that I have, using their bodies as puppets. In your sense, isn't that evil?" _This girl doesn't get it_, I thought, thinking about Pain's plan to send her to the Sand. _How are we supposed to send her on such a dangerous mission?_

"I know what you've done," she said. "And I know that you might do it again, but you can still be forgiven, Deidara. It's never too late to repent. It's your loneliness, your lack of love that drove you to become like this; it's not evil. You are not insane, Deidara. You and Sasori are brilliant, but you're lost when it comes to love. Since you've never had enough love, you've lost the sense of value of a person's life, their dreams and their happiness."

"Stop," I said, turning away. I didn't want to remember my childhood days. "Don't talk about it if you've never been through it. I don't want love and I'm not lonely."

"You do want love," she said, turning my face to her, "You've just been denied love your entire life, so you don't know what it is anymore. Love doesn't always express itself in a romantic way, Deidara. With love, you can make things right with your past mistakes and do good things to be forgiven."

I didn't want to talk about it anymore. Love sounded pretty nice from her perspective, but I didn't believe it was that easy. "It must be nice to be a kid like you," I said, envying her naiveté. "You've never gone through the experience of killing someone. You haven't seen the true ugliness of this world. It's easy for you to say that the world is beautiful and that I have a chance to be good." Gently but firmly, I took her arms and enclosed her against the wall. She needed to realize the vulnerability she was in, especially around me. The steam from the baths surrounded us and started to humidify my clothes. "But, it's too late for me. I'm past the point of forgiveness. Killing is nothing to me anymore; I enjoy it now. Blowing people up genuinely excites me, as making human bodies into puppets excites Sasori. Society would definitely call us insane. You need to understand that some people in this world are evil." Gripping her tighter, I bent my head, not able to look her in the eyes. "Even now, I want so much to show you the evil in this world, to tear your innocence apart. The darkness in my heart wants to corrupt you, and it's taking all of my self-control to stop myself."

"Deidara," she said, and I looked at her, wondering how those dark red-brown eyes could see through me so clearly. "You just proved to me that you're not evil. You are fighting against your inner instinct to protect me. How could I call you evil after hearing that you care about me?"

The rush to my cheeks came involuntarily. _Was that it? It's because I care about her?_ "Saya, you—" But I couldn't finish; something painfully drew into my chest, which was still unclothed. We both looked down, and Sasori's soul had clasped itself to my body; I gasped in pain, but there was no wound. I felt myself losing my conscience, feeling a new one take over….

**Saya**

"Deidara!" I tried to pull Sasori's soul out, but it wouldn't move. A moment earlier I was simply holding it in my hand, but it had a sudden urge to move into his chest. He collapsed onto me, his head falling onto my shoulder. But before I could put him down, he rose with a different face. His hair was shortened and crimson, and his eyes turned into an autumn gold.

"I owe you for that prank, Saya." He said, smirking. His face looked down at me; his eighteen-year-old self was considerably taller than his fifteen-year-old puppet. "Making me unconscious for so long was the wrong thing to do." He spoke quietly into my ear, "I'm going to make sure you learn your lesson. Let's continue what we started at that time."

Before I could register anything in my mind, before my heart slowed after seeing him so suddenly, his lips dove into the curve of my neck, trailing upwards to my ear.

"Sasori—stop it—" I tried to push him away, but the feel of his lips on my sensitive neck was unbelievably distracting, and when he nipped at my ear, I couldn't hold back embarrassing sounds of surprise.

"What's wrong?" he whispered into my ear. "You're holding back your voice. This is what you wanted, isn't it?"

"No, get off, pervert!" I said, trying not to be distracted by his lips, but he was too strong to push away. _Someone help me!_

**Deidara**

_No, _I said in my head, feeling my lips on her skin though I wasn't initiating it. _Sasori no Danna, please stop._ I longed to speak, but my body was no longer in my control. Danna couldn't hear me; only I could hear myself being tortured into this state. _This isn't right; this is my body!_

I was disgusted at myself, feeling my lips against her neck and hearing her sounds of restraint yet not able to do anything about it. But what was the most disgusting was that a dark lust in my heart was emerging. I didn't want to be like this.

_Move, damn it!_

**Saya**

"Please get off, Sasori." I said, and his eyes looked so intently into mine that it was overwhelming.

"Your face is red," he remarked.

"It's hot in here!" I tried to make excuses while trying to move away, my clothes moistening from the steam of the baths.

His hand touched my face. "I'm not a romantic man, or even a nice man. But I am a man, so I want this." His lips came close to mine. "But kissing on the lips is something that lovers do, isn't it? So I'll just skip that part. We can still get what we both want without that insignificant act."

Now I was getting heated, doing anything I could to push him away. "You—!"

"She's turned on because she's imagining that I'm the one doing it to her." Madara entered the steaming room, his mask off and his Sharingan gazing at us.

To my surprise, Sasori didn't look surprised to see his true identity at all. "Tobi," he said, slowly turning to him. "I knew you weren't a stupid kid, but to think that you were a member of the Uchiha clan…"

"If you weren't in Deidara's body, I would have greatly punished you for trying to assault my partner." He moved closer, but Sasori didn't let go of me.

"So you're the one Pain is taking orders from?" Sasori said.

"You're sharp," he replied, not stopping as he approached us. "But I can't say any more now. I'll be taking my partner back." And my hand was taken by his as I was led out of the room.

**Sasori**

I touched my lips with my hands, still feeling her heat on them. _How long has it been since I've felt the warmth of another person?_ The desire was so overwhelming and the opportunity was so perfect, I gave in to my lust by taking over Deidara's body and forcing myself onto Saya. The loneliness from my days as a child was coming back, and it was all because of her. I hated her, but at the same time, I couldn't let her go. If I couldn't have her heart, then I would take her body. I punched the wall, looking at the ground where the blood slowly dripped onto from my knuckles. _How else could I satiate this feeling in my chest? How else could I ease the growing pain in my heart, which has felt nothing for so many years?_

Though I told Saya that I had been unconscious for the past two weeks, I was awake for the entire time. I remembered Saya's words to Deidara as I rested in her hand: "You do want love. You've just been denied love your entire life, so you don't know what it is anymore." _Yes_, I finally realized, _I'm desperate for her, and I have been tainted enough in my life to do anything to get her_. I was such a despicable being.

My pain was so unbearable, I wondered if Deidara, deep inside my conscience, could physically feel it. I wondered if he would ever understand. But there was one thing I needed both of us to hear.

_I love her._ And as I broke down onto the wall, my eyes felt teary for the first time in twenty years.


	11. Compassion

**Did I ever mention that I love you?**

**I don't own Naruto, but to make it up to you, I'll do my best to write my own legendary story that's worthy of publishing (if I become famous, I'll let you all know).**

**

* * *

**

Saya

Instead of making me face the others in the living room, Madara led me outside to the lake.

"You can cry," he said, sitting next to me under a maple tree.

I stared at the lake, reflecting the autumn trees that were darkened by the night sky. The stars and moon shone an ephemeral light onto the night; I wondered if I would ever get used to this kind of beauty.

"So he's the one you like?" he figured, taking that I wasn't going to cry. "I was wondering why you haven't snuck into my room and attacked me yet."

I disregarded his joke. "I… don't understand." I said. "He understands my feelings, yet he still torments me by doing those things. He doesn't love me, but he's trying to tempt me for his amusement."

"I don't think he completely understands your feelings," he said, leaning back and looking at the stars. "You remind me constantly that I'm considerably older than you, and I _do _have much more experience, so I'll let you in on a good secret: a man needs to be sure that he's secured the love of his interest. You might think that Sasori knows your feelings, but I disagree. If I were Sasori—and I'm glad that I'm not—I'd think that your 'love' for me is just an infatuation heightened by my continuous seduction. I would wonder why you have such feelings for me, and then I would realize that I never want to let you go, even if it's only an infatuation."

He turned to me, his eyes slightly showing the years of his wisdom for the first time. "You should be careful about this. When you realize that your feelings for Sasori are only because of an infatuation, it might already be too late. You should end things now, before he locks you away when you realize that you want to leave him."

"If it were only an infatuation," I said, bringing my hand to my chest, "It wouldn't hurt this much."

His eyes, which had been gazing at me for a while, now turned serious. "Hey, Saya-kun…" he leaned in, and I unconsciously moved back. "Can't it be me?"

I stared at him in disbelief, wondering if I had heard right. "But you have no feelings for me… right?"

"You're right," he said, grinning. He wasn't ashamed at all. "Unlike Sasori, I'm really not able to love; I can only create infatuation and obsession. Right now, I'm interested in you. Since you're getting over Sasori, and I want you, won't you be with me?"

"Are you crazy?" I said, my face burning. "You have a hundred years on me! You could be my great-grandfather! And what's with this 'I'm interested in you' crap? Infatuations and obsessions only last so long; you'll just throw me away when you're bored with me. I'm not stupid enough to be with someone I don't even have feelings for."

"But you can throw those feelings away," he said, taking my hand. "With me, you can forget all about getting hurt. Love is a nuisance; with me, you can live only to want me. You'll never worry about useless things like feelings and I can satisfy your desire easily. I say this now, but it will be good forever. You might say no, but one day… I will wait for you to come to me." He grinned. When he finally released my hand, I ran, feeling so confused and lost that I couldn't think straight.

_Why are Sasori and Madara trying to hold onto me when they don't feel anything for me? _I couldn't understand. _Why were they so selfish? _This was too much; I had only been here for a short period of time, but it already seemed like I had looked into the darkest parts of their hearts.

I finally stopped at the entrance to the base, collapsing under a tree by the river. The breeze was cool, but the night was warm and calm. I needed to stop thinking, stop feeling.

Sleep quickly drifted me away.

**Deidara**

Sasori breaking down was not a sight I had expected to see, but it eased the anger that I had towards him. After all, I understood his feelings so well that an old pain, a hopeless longing, rose in my chest again. So when we walked to his room and he relocated himself into his puppet body, I couldn't bring myself to do more than to punch his soul compartment in vain and walk away. Whether it hurt or not, I didn't know, but that wasn't the problem; Sasori was already so broken that he probably didn't even feel the pain.

And there was also the issue with Tobi to consider. I had never expected him to be the true leader, or worse, an Uchiha. But right now, I really didn't care.

"Deidara," Itachi's voice had an authoritative air, especially over me, as I walked into the living room. Not only he, but Konan, Pain, Zetsu, and Hidan all wanted an explanation for seeing an eighteen-year-old human Sasori walking past them into his room.

"Saya brought his soul into the baths. He took over my body for a little while," I said, opening the fridge and taking out a bottle of cold tea. "I was pissed at first, but now it's fine."

"You still look pissed to me," Hidan pointed out.

"Right, he does," Zetsu's dark side confirmed.

"Where's Saya?" Itachi asked, and I took care not to look at him when I answered.

"She's probably outside, mm." I answered, downing the tea.

"Deidara," Pain's voice shot through me. He sounded almost _too_ knowing. "What happened?"

"Look, whatever happened with them has nothing to do with me." I said, exasperated.

"Sasori did something to Saya?" Hidan suddenly spoke, a small hint of worry in his loud, usually apathetic voice.

"Ask her," I said, not wanting anything to do with it anymore. I walked back to room and sat in the dark, wanting the aching to go away.

**Itachi**

We all looked at each other, genuinely concerned.

"Want me to talk to her?" asked Konan.

"No," I said, standing. "I'll do it."

Finding Saya was incredibly easy; as soon as I had walked out from behind the waterfall, I spotted Saya sleeping under the same tree that I had first found her sitting under. For a moment, I considered letting her sleep and talking to her in the morning, but her restless expression told me that she needed this talk now.

I was about to jolt my chakra into her like I did once before, but I decided to be gentler this time. My hand rested on her forehead, and I slowly roused her with my chakra.

"You are so predictable, and yet so unpredictable." I said, sitting in front of her.

"That annoyingly wise way of speaking… Itachi?" she was still trying to focus her vision.

I gazed into her sleepy, yet moonlit eyes. "It's been only two weeks since you've arrived here, and you're already making a commotion."

"I didn't ask for this to happen," she said, looking sincerely regretful.

"And what happened exactly?" I asked, stern. Since I looked into her mind almost every day, we had few secrets. She had to put her trust into me, whether she liked it or not. It forced her to talk to me and let me do the job Pain assigned to me.

"Must you be so judgmental?" she asked, exasperated.

"I'm not judgmental," I replied. "I need to take care of you."

She sighed, leaning her head back on the tree. "The way you say it makes it sound severe."

"Then how would you like me to speak to you?"

She looked a bit hurt that I was only taking care of her because Pain had asked me to. "Just… don't be afraid to express what you feel." She said, and the desperate need in her voice told me that maybe… just this once….

"Alright," I said, my voice gentler. "What do you want to talk about?"

She told me everything, from her feelings for Sasori to Madara's strange suggestion. The more she spoke, the kinder I felt inside. For some reason, around her, I felt like a warmer person.

"I can't be you, Itachi," she said. "I can't give up all love and bonds for justice. Being hated everywhere I go when I'm secretly doing the right thing would be unbearable for me. I'm not selfless, even though I say I try to be good."

She was the only person in this world that understood me completely, who knew my true intentions. We met only days before, yet she had a way of making me feel like I've known her all my life. She was the only one who cared about my feelings. How could I not adore her?

"You don't know if you love him, but you don't have to rush your feelings," I said. "Let your heart tell you who the most important person is to you, not anyone else. It will be clear whom you love when you realize that."

"Whom?" I repeated, puzzled. "I think I said I only had feelings for Sasori?"

I smirked to myself. "Well, from what you told me, it seems that you have others to think about. You don't realize it now, but you will."

She looked at me strangely. "Has something good happened to you, Itachi? You're almost _too_ nice tonight."

"You could say that," I replied, staring straight at the source.

"I should thank whatever caused it," she said. "Itachi, I really think you're a good person. Someone like you deserves to be loved." She took my hand in both of hers, showing me her most precious smile. "If you ever feel lonely and lost, just remember that at least one person knows who you truly are. I know you and I am able to care for you."

I smiled completely, thinking to myself, _I want to cherish this person._ Only one was enough; I wanted to love her devotedly and whole-heartedly. We still didn't know each other well, but it all would start here. She was all I need.

"Sleep," I gently commanded, touching her forehead again and placing her mind at ease. I gazed at her for a long time before I covered her with my cloak and left.

**Deidara**

Saya's sleeping face was incredibly calm, considering the state she was in last night. I wondered if it had anything to do with the person who covered her with the Akatsuki cloak. But it was morning, and I needed to set things straight.

"Wake up." I said. She stirred, but didn't wake. Smirking, I leaned in to her ear and whispered, "If you don't wake up, I'll blow you up, un." She jolted awake from instinct, her hands automatically protecting her face. "You're sleeping in the exact same place as last time," I remarked, holding out my hand to her. She was always easy to find.

"Deidara…" she said carefully, processing her memories. "Ah… Last night, do you remember anything weird—?"

"Oh, I blanked out after we got dressed," I lied, grinning. "The next moment, I found myself in my room. Baka Tobi said he came into the baths to peep on you and he accidentally knocked me out. And Sasori's back in his body again; did you do that?"

"… Yeah." She seemed at a loss for words, but the joy on her face that I was asleep the entire night only tightened the aching in my chest.

I needed to think of something else. "Hurry and get ready; we're all going on a recreational trip."

"Recreational trip?" she repeated, startled. "I thought you said the Akatsuki didn't go on vacations altogether!"

"Well," I said, "Leader made an exception." Actually, Pain didn't do anything; Tobi, or Madara—whoever he was—secretly made the decision. We all knew it was for Saya, but none of us had the heart to tell her.

"When you say Leader...." she said, cautious. I understood her immediately.

"So you knew, too?"

"I wasn't the only one," she insisted. "I only knew because of my 'knowledge'; Pain, Itachi, Zetsu, Konan, and now Sasori all know."

"That makes about the majority of the Akatsuki," I remarked. "It's about time we get to know him. And yes, I was talking about him: Madara. Itachi also supported the idea."

"Che," she looked away, embarrassed that he was thinking of her. "Madara… he's too—"

"Well, you _are_ a kid." I pointed out.

"I'm not depressed or anything!" she said. "I don't need any recreation, and how long are you going to call me a kid?"

"Let's see," I thought, looking at her. No matter what I said, she was slowly maturing in physique if not in mind, but she still looked like a kid. "Maybe I'll stop when you're my age."

She looked as if she were going to compromise when a loud disturbance woke the entire forest.

"SAYA-KUUUN!"

**Saya**

"Oh jeez." I didn't even bother to turn around to see who it was before arms wrapped around me so tightly I couldn't breathe.

"Why do we have a baka leader?" Deidara's head fell in his hands.

"We're going on a trip, Saya-kun! Pack your things!" Tobi's excitement almost won me over, but I pushed him away.

"Tobi, you should save money. Don't you have an evil empire to build, or something?"

"You're so mean, Saya-kun! Tobi just wants to spend time with his cute little baby sister!"

At the words 'cute little baby sister', the somewhat-won-over-by-Tobi expression on my face turned into a grimace. "I don't need a recreational trip; I just need a quiet day to rest. You're busier than all of us; don't worry about my problems." He needed to be reminded that I _was_ a kid to him, and that he needed to set his priorities straight.

"But, Chibi-kun…" his voice became a step higher and annoyingly cute.

"I don't want to cause trouble," I said, glad that he wore a mask so I wouldn't have to see his disappointed expression. "And I know you have the most work to do. Thanks, Tobi, but don't make a fuss over me."

I saw it coming, but when he ran away like an upset little child, even Deidara felt a little pity for him.

"Maybe I should've let him do it?" I said, sweat dropping.

"It's your decision." He said. "He planned it for you."

That remark decided it for me. "Tobi, wait!" I ran after him, instantly regretting turning down his attempt to make me feel better. "I take it back!"

When I had finally reached him, he turned his back to me, clearly upset.

"Tobi, forget what I said… let's go together, wherever you want to go…" My hands were on my knees as I tried to catch my breath.

But to my surprise, he shunned me even more. "No!" he said. "Saya-kun doesn't even want to go, anyway! Chibi-kun hates me!"

"Tobi, don't be like this," I said, sweat dropping. "I don't hate you. Can you please stop this act and look at me seriously?"

Slowly, he turned, taking his mask off and revealing his smirking face.

"So which is it?" I asked, confused. "Is Tobi really an act, or is he your other face?"

_He's definitely enjoying this_, I thought as I glared at his dangerous smile. "I'll let you decide on that one," he replied.

"Whatever, then. So are we going on vacation now?" I asked.

"No," he said, but that mischievous grin on his face told me that it wasn't over. "But you can make it up to me."

This couldn't be good, but I had no choice. "... How?"

* * *

**I love this quote: "Hate the sin, love the sinner." It describes Sasori perfectly.**

**The daybreak is coming...**


	12. Sacrifice

**Time has been cruel to me, but now I can finally write the next installation of my story.**

**A late Christmas present (Part ONE)**~

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* * *

_

_"Tobi, wait!" I ran after him, instantly regretting turning down his attempt to make me feel better. "I take it back!"_

_When I had finally reached him, he turned his back to me, clearly upset._

_"Tobi, forget what I said… let's go together, wherever you want to go…" My hands were on my knees as I tried to catch my breath._

_But to my surprise, he shunned me even more. "No!" he said. "Saya-kun doesn't even want to go, anyway! Chibi-kun hates me!"_

_"Tobi, don't be like this," I said, sweat dropping. "I don't hate you. Can you please stop this act and look at me seriously?"_

_Slowly, he turned, taking his mask off and revealing his smirking face._

_"So which is it?" I asked, confused. "Is Tobi really an act, or is he your other face?"_

_He's definitely enjoying this, I thought as I glared at his dangerous smile. "I'll let you decide on that one," he replied._

_"Whatever, then. So are we going on vacation now?" I asked._

_"No," he said, but that mischievous grin on his face told me that it wasn't over. "But you can make it up to me."_

_"How?"_

_His expectant face really started to get to me until he leaned in close to whisper his plans for me._

* * *

**Sasori**

I was purposely using all of my concentration to perfect this one puppet I was working on so I could take my mind off… other things. Before I knew it, dawn broke and someone gently knocked on my door.

I continued working silently, because we both knew he was the only person who ever visited my room. He would have entered even if I told him to leave, so I didn't object.

"Sasori-san," Itachi's smooth voice was as polite as ever. "Would you go for a walk with me?"

"Is it about Saya?" I asked, wanting to get to the point.

"Among other things," he answered.

"I'll pass." Receiving advice or instruction from him seemed less than appealing.

"Sasori-san…"

"Don't say my name like that, Itachi." He was the closest to me, almost like a friend, but we weren't so caring… at least not until Saya came. "I know Pain asked you to take care of her, but you have nothing to do with this."

"Do you love her?"

I turned to him, rather taken aback by his directness. "Of course not," I replied, averting my eyes back to the puppet part, "You've known me long enough to know that I've lost that emotion years ago."

"Then why are you not looking at me? You're here, avoiding everyone else, working on a puppet that isn't human. Why are you provoking her when you know her feelings for you?"

"Because it's fun," I said, grinning at him. "Isn't it convenient to have a loyal servant who I know will never betray me?"

"You don't think of her as a servant."

"Now, Itachi, I know you can trick my eyes, but you can't decide things for me."

He continued to stare at me, and I knew he didn't believe what I said for a moment. "Well, if you don't have special feelings for her, then someone else will take her away."

Smirking, I looked at Itachi, though inside, my living part tightened. "What, Itachi, are you going to take her away from me?"

He didn't answer, but left me to drown in my thoughts once again. I looked outside, wondering if it were possible for a puppet to feel so much. My head fell to my hands.

_This has to stop. I have to end it today._

**Saya**

I couldn't believe the current situation.

"Tobi," I said while barely steadying my voice, "I understand why _you_ are taking a bath with me, but…. _what about them_?!" I pointed to the rest of the Akatsuki, who were all bathing, half-naked. "Why are they _all_ here?!"

"Well, I thought that since we're not going anywhere for vacation, we could all take one right here!"

I wanted to rip his mask off.

"Want one?" Kisame offered a glass of colorful alcohol to me.

"Kisame!" I said in surprise, wondering when he returned from his mission. "Kakuzu's back, too, I see," I added, looking over to the money-crazed old man. "And I don't drink; I'm a minor."

"Alright then," he said, downing the glass. "Seriously, I hurry to finish my mission and come back here to go on a group vacation, and then Tobi suddenly bails out on us. You know what changed his mind?"

"Uh… nope." I quickly turned away to hide the fact that I was the cause of his cancellation.

"Oi, Saya, if you wear any more towels, you'll make Konan look like a—"

"Shut up, Hidan," Konan didn't look at all embarrassed to be wearing only one small towel. I was on the verge of panic with so many half-naked men around, so I had donned three huge towels wrapped around me like a turban around one's head.

"Saya, I'm surprised you can even move. You're walking like you're in a sleeping bag." Pain grinned. He leaned in to whisper, "That's a good idea, though. If you take those off, some of them might pounce. The only reason they don't attack Konan is they know I'll rip their heads off." And he pulled away, continuing to grin widely so as to not draw attention. Suddenly paranoid, I pulled my towels tighter around me.

"Who wants to race me?!" Hidan stood, ripping his towel away. None of the males seemed the least disturbed by his complete nudity, but I panicked. Luckily, the steam was sufficient enough to cloud around his manhood before Pain covered my eyes.

I heard Konan whistle beside me. "I always knew yours was small!"

"Up yours, bitch."

"You wish."

I laughed among the others, and Kisame shouted, "Konan – one, Hidan – zero!"

"You're not really starting this, shit shark."

"How 'bout I race you then, little dick?"

"WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME, FUCKING SHARK FUCK—!"

Tidal waves splashed upon everyone and the others broke into laughter. I attempted to sneak away before Tobi took my arm.

"If I stay here, I'll drown!" I insisted, pulling towards the exit.

"This is part of the deal," he reminded me, his stupid voice dangerous.

"You—!" But before I could whack him in the head, he disappeared into the steamy bath. Sighing, I watched as Kisame and Hidan swam multiple laps while Tobi, Deidara, and Zetsu excitedly urged them on. But as I scanned the rest of the baths, there was someone missing. Kakuzu and Itachi were quietly sitting in the smaller bath, ignoring the ruckus in the large bath. Pain and Konan were talking and casually watching their comrades wreak havoc.

"Sasori," I searched fruitlessly for any sign of red beyond the thick steam. Then, making sure that Tobi was fully occupied, I snuck out of the baths and dressed, leaving the bathroom quietly. The cool rush against my wet hair and face made me shiver at first as I looked for Sasori in the many rooms of the base. When I found him in the special room where we had first met, I couldn't help but notice how lonely he looked, standing with his puppets.

"Why are you here?" he asked, not even looking at me.

"Uh…" I paused, not even sure myself. "I wanted to practice more. Can you help me?" I would have to work on my lying.

He turned to me as his puppets disappeared. "Your training with Deidara isn't finished yet."

"But he's bathing."

"So I'm his substitute?"

"Basically."

We stared at each other for a long time. Though I would never admit it, I was extremely intimidated by him, so I was determined not to lose. Then he did something that completely caught me off guard. Laughing, he was in front of me before I even noticed he moved. "You have some nerve, _ochibi-kun_."

I steamed at his provoking. "I'm not a kid!"

"You are to me," his stupidly attractive voice slowly killed my pride with each word. "Well, I'll practice with you today. We're not going to see each other for a while starting tomorrow."

My heart sunk as I remembered my mission and the extensive training in the other home with Deidara. "Right."

"Let's see how well you've improved since our first training session." And without warning, he came at me, leaving me to dodge in fear rather than in speed. Even though he was purposely slowing his movements for me, my reaction timing was almost too slow. "What were you doing with Deidara during your training?" he incited, "Has he been carried away by your constant playing around? He's still too soft, that Deidara."

"You—!" I moved to strike, but he disappeared before I realized it. Automatically looking behind me by habit from my fighting with Deidara, I only had time to raise my arms protectively in front of me before he attacked, knocking me back several meters. My arms and backside ached from the harsh impact, even though I had learned to lessen the stress on my backside using my back as leverage. He didn't let me recover before running at me again, and I desperately rolled over to avoid him and force myself up. He kicked low to break my shaky balance, but I jumped barely in time. That was the opening he was looking for, and I realized it too late. He swung all the way around from his first kick and kicked again with his other leg, knocking the wind out of me before I even returned to the ground.

He smirked as I massaged my backside and regained the use of my lungs. "What's wrong? You're only averting me." Appearing in front of me again and forcefully pulling me up onto my feet, he added, "You need to get back on your feet much faster."

I knew I was responding to his provocations exactly the way he wanted me to, but I didn't care. The only thing on my mind at that moment was somehow getting my fist in his face.

"Again?" he teased, as if surprised that I wanted to continue. "Well, if you insist."

**Itachi**

We all noticed that Saya was gone. Deidara and I met eye contact, and we both knew with whom she was probably with.

_I'll go_, I silently told him, getting out of the bath and changing.

Saya was free to love anyone, I honestly believed that. But if it were anyone in the Akatsuki other than Sasori, I would at least feel more at peace. The others were more human, more prone to human emotions. Maybe Madara would have been another poor choice. But even Hidan was human, although he hid his vulnerabilities well.

_Sasori, you have to break her heart_, I thought. _It's what's best for both of you in the long run._

**Sasori**

My mind constantly repeated the same concept over and over, but I couldn't grasp it. Something was preventing me from logic.

_End it, Sasori. Don't torture yourself any longer. Don't torture her any longer; you'll upset Leader and Itachi, the only two in the Akatsuki who remotely care for you._

As I fought her hand-to-hand, I almost wanted to feel the pain of our contact. I wanted to feel something, anything, knowing that I wouldn't be able to touch her for a while afterwards.

_If you end it now, she will have an entire month away from you to get over it, and she'll return as if nothing has ever happened. Break her, Sasori._

But I didn't want her to act as if nothing had ever happened. I didn't want her to get over me.

_It's not because of love_, I told myself. _I'm not in love. I'm just… distracted by her amusing character._ But I knew that wasn't true. If it were only for amusement, I would have let it go by now.

She was panting; I stopped to give her time to recover. We had been fighting nonstop for a while, and my untiring body caused me to forget. "Let's stop. You'll pass out at this rate."

But she looked at me as if she weren't done with me. "Sasori," she said, "If we don't see each other before tomorrow, this is goodbye for now."

Those words shot through me deeply. Even though it wasn't a farewell, even though I knew I had forever, the realization still stunned me to silence. A month suddenly seemed so long.

"And when I come back, I'll be strong enough to face you again!" she claimed, grinning. Her smile woke me from my ever-going trance. The thoughts of breaking our bond that I had set aside since we started training returned. I didn't want her to go.

"Saya," I said, holding her arm to let her know the importance of my words. She froze, gazing confusedly at my eyes. "Stop acting like we're best friends. You said that friends loved each other more than they loved themselves, but I can't do that. I love myself the most, and only myself. So leave and come back to fight me, but come back with only the intent to kill. If you cannot do that, you can't ever defeat me.

"I've honestly wanted to kill you for your prying into my past life, but because Leader and Madara need you, I haven't." _I wanted to kill you for seeing through me so clearly._

"You were fun to play with, anyway. I needed some amusement to keep me from getting so bored." _You became the only thing I looked forward to seeing every day._

"But, unexpectedly, you became attracted to me." _Impossibly, you cared enough to break through the wall I had kept for so long to hide my true self._

"Targeting you as my object of sadism and lust became that much easier. I could treat you like scum and you would still obediently come back to me, just like a slave." _I tried to push you away, but you kept returning to my side._

"If you want to keep me from completely destroying your pride, then destroy everything we had. Hate me for this, and then, when you're strong enough, come back to kill me." I pulled her closer, making sure she understood every word. "Promise me."

She stared right into my eyes for the longest time, registering everything that I had just said. When she spoke, the flaming determination in her voice reflected her character so well that I wanted nothing more than to pull her into my arms. "Never."

"Then I'll force you to," I replied, pulling her arms into a position so that they were ready to break.

"Break me, hate me, rape me, treat me like a slave; I'll never hate you." Her eyes seemed to turn fiery red at her words, and I was speechless. "I'll never want to kill you."

I couldn't believe her. I couldn't believe that someone like that existed, in this world, her world, or any world.

I was desperately losing. I needed to break her determination somehow. "You'll regret those words." I finally said, breaking her right arm.

**Saya**

It flew by so fast, I didn't even truly feel the pain in my right arm until after it all happened.

Deidara rushed in, ripping us apart while Itachi summoned bounds to shove Sasori against the wall. I was delicately moved to my room and laid onto my bed.

"Not him, Saya," he said harshly, his eyes flaming. His grip on my other arm was so tight I felt like it was going to break too. "It's taking all of my self-control to stay here and let Itachi sort him out. All I want to do right now is fight him."

I felt Deidara's killing intent take over his conscience, and I couldn't do anything but shout to get his attention. He, mistaking my shouting for cries of pain, instantly came back to his senses and called for Itachi.

"I can only do so much without a medical nin's abilities," he said, already performing his healing technique on my arm.

"Deidara," I said, feeling an excruciating throb in my right arm and struggling to sound calm, "He's your partner. Try to understand him. It's not a big deal."

"He broke your arm."

"You lost both your arms, and you didn't hate the ones who did it!"

"It didn't happen yet, remember?" his hair fell like a silk cape over my broken arm, brushing it lightly.

"You don't hate him." Deidara was so hotheaded at the moment, but I couldn't be angry with him. "You respect him deeply."

"Yeah; that was before you broke your arm when you were defenseless."

"Well, he warned me."

"What?!"

"He said if I didn't promise to hate him and kill him when I come back from our training, he'd break my arms."

"Why didn't you promise him then, baka?!" he looked as though he wanted to hit my head, but changed his mind when he saw my arm.

"Because I didn't want to," I answered simply.

"You broke your arm for that?!"

"… Yeah."

"You're so simple-minded!" He didn't know what to do with me, and I didn't blame him.

"See, you're not as angry now." I remarked, grinning. "You don't hate Sasori."

"But I'm a little mad at him."

"I would be, too, if he broke your arm. We're friends, after all." After the heartbreaking words from Sasori, I felt that Deidara needed to know how much I cared about him.

"I haven't said that you're my friend yet," he reminded me, smirking.

"It's okay. Then you're just my friend."

"… You're so simple-minded."

Itachi came in at that moment, looking as calm as ever. If I hadn't known what he was just up to, I would have thought that he walked in after having a nice cup of tea.

"Did you beat him up?" was the first thing to come out of Deidara's mouth.

"No," he replied. "Don't be so angry at him, Deidara."

"You too?!" Deidara said in disbelief, looking at both of us.

"Well, it's Saya's fault," he explained, and they both stared at me.

"That's true…" Deidara glared at me as if I were Tobi when he was doing something stupid.

"What?" I said finally, uncomfortable with both of them staring.

Neither of them offered an explanation. "Let me see your arm," Itachi walked over, and I suddenly remembered that I was in pain again.

**Itachi** **(two minutes earlier)**

Deidara exited the bath soon after I did, and he started walking over to listen outside of the door of the special room with me when I heard Sasori's final warning and burst into the room. Deidara, who understood almost more quickly than I did, rushed in to help Saya while I dealt with Sasori.

As soon as Saya and Deidara were out of sight, I walked to Sasori's immobile figure against the wall.

"You tried," I said simply.

"And failed," he added bitterly. "What is she?!"

"… She's an extremely determined and unique person who has feelings for you."

"She'll get over it."

"But you won't." I watched as his emotionless expression suddenly hardened. "You didn't have to break her arm."

"I had to show that I meant what I said," he explained. "How else will she leave me?"

"I know it hurt you more than it hurt her, but sadly, it didn't work." For once, I found myself feeling pity for him. "Thank you for letting her go, Sasori."

"Don't thank me," he said harshly. "If you do, it'll be the only decent thing I've done in my life. I don't want my only integrity to come from the decision that killed any hope of love and happiness for me."

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**Another uneditted piece that I had written continuously and smoothly, so please don't mind the rashness or unorganization of it if there are any. Part Two of your Christmas present will be uploaded shortly.**

**Thank you for reading... and if you happen to like it, then that's all that matters to me.**


	13. Goodbye for Now

**imoto - younger sister**

**oji-san - uncle (it can also mean 'old man' or be used affectionately towards a middle-aged man)**

**....**

**Here's Part Two of your Christmas present... and ironically the end of Part One of the story.**

**It's short; I just felt that it should be its own chapter.**

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**Itachi**

We both watched Saya sleep, knowing it would probably never bore either of us.

"Sasori was trying to protect her, wasn't he? From himself, mm." remarked Deidara, not taking his eyes off his object of affection.

"Yes," I answered, surprised that Deidara found out so easily.

"Well, if that weren't the case, you would've ripped him to shreds," he pointed out, grinning.

I silently agreed.

"Ah, it's driving me insane!" he persisted. "She's all love-struck over my _puppet_ partner who's weird, scary, and most importantly, not me! Un!"

I laughed, thinking of how much happier I would be if Deidara were always there to protect Saya. He was so young, even though he acted mature for his work.

"Don't lose, Deidara."

"Mm? Did you say something?" he looked puzzled from my barely-whispered words.

I grinned, looking back at Saya. "It's nothing."

**Saya**

I woke to find my arm feeling fine and Madara's face centimeters from mine.

I yelled and knocked my head backwards on the headboard of the bed.

"You left the baths," he said, his voice dangerously playful.

"Uh… right, I do remember doing something like that…." I became very nervous as I processed the consequences of my actions.

"Didn't I specifically say that you couldn't leave until I said so?"

"… Maybe."

"Well, I hope you knew at the moment you left that you would be getting punishment from me." He smirked, his Sharingan staring scarily at me.

"Punishment?" I repeated, my palms sweating. But then I realized something. "You—! You knew I was leaving, but you let me go anyway just so you could punish me later!"

"I don't know what you're talking about," he said innocently, but I fumed.

"I'm not doing it!"

"Are you _sure_ about that, Saya-kun? 'Cause I have _countless_ embarrassing memories of your life from our first session that I might just _slip_ to everyone over dinner…."

"Fine, fine!" There was nothing I could do but stop him from going further, and it was a hard blow to my pride. I hated Madara and his stupid Sharingan.

It was hard to leave the next morning.

Everyone had come to see me off, except for one person.

"Sasori's doing morning training," Itachi explained as Deidara and I got ready to leave. "I'll meet with you in a week for our session."

"I don't even know what the fuss is all about," Hidan said grudgingly to me. "You're coming back soon, and the vacation home is only a day away for me." But he had showed up nevertheless, and I grinned at him.

"See, Saya?" Tobi came between us, practically jumping. "Even Hidan-nii-chan will miss you!"

"Shut up, orange fuck!"

"Oh, here comes Mommy and Daddy," Tobi whispered to me as Konan and Pain gave me their best regards.

"Don't forget what we taught you," Konan beamed, referring to my dance and music lessons. "You'll find that it will help… soon."

"You'll be flying, then?" Pain asked Deidara, who nodded. "Don't die," he said to me. "Deidara will be tough, so don't let him kill you. We need you for the mission."

"Why is the funniest target—I mean—chibi-kun leaving us?" complained Kisame mournfully. I remembered his and Zetsu's constant teasing and couldn't help but see why Tobi named them our 'older cousins' of the family. "We can't watch dramas together anymore, imoto*."

"You won't be cooking…" Zetsu realized. "I guess we'll deal with blood for now."

As Deidara placed his Akatsuki cloak on, Kakuzu placed something in my hand. "Just in case Deidara gets mad and throws you out," he muttered in my ear. I looked in my hand to see a wad of cash, and I froze. Kakuzu… giving money? Was it even possible?

I was so happy that I grinned and said, "Thanks, Kakuzu-oji-san*!"

"Baka," he said, turning away. "I'm not your uncle; we're not related." But I grinned anyway, and just before we were about to leave I remembered I forgot something in my room.

"Wait, Deidara; I'll be right back," I said before running back to my room and taking my old shoes from the darkest corner of my closet, having a feeling that I would need them. I started to walk back when I passed Sasori's room right next to mine, and I unconsciously opened the door and walked into it for the last time before our next meeting. His puppet-making tools were scattered on the floor as if they were thrown, and the door to his closet stood ajar. Before I could stop myself, I opened the closet door and froze, catching my breath. The sight was so overwhelming that I stumbled, my knees almost giving way.

_Sasori…_

**Sasori**

The moment after Saya and Deidara took off on his C2 dragon, I reappeared and walked past the others into the base.

She was gone. I had succeeded. Now everything would be right.

As I walked into my room feeling empty, I noticed my tools on the floor and remembered my hasty puppet-making the past night. But when my eyes spotted the closet door wide open, my soul froze.

Her nearly-perfect replica was on a stand; I had finally finished it. The only non-human puppet I had made in years was standing before me, her eyes closed. Every detail, even her flawed features, was exactly proportional to her measures. I had stared at it all night and forgotten to hide it. The staggering realization sank into me.

The only living part of me finally filled my ever-longing wish—feeling. I couldn't describe it, the feeling, but it was so overwhelming that I ran as fast as I could past the others again and only stopped when I was at the lake where we had spent precious time together. She was flying over the lake with Deidara, but she was turned and looking at me.

Then she gave me her most enchanting smile.

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**E N D O F P A R T O N E**

**Thanks for staying with me this far... **

**Part Two will feature Saya's intense training under Deidara, her encounter with Gaara, conflicts between some of Naruto's main characters and the Akatsuki, and more. I hope you'll be patient enough to read it, haha. Or even like it enough, for that matter.**

**Happy Holidays, everyone!**


	14. Fated Encounter

******Well, I'm going to pretend that I haven't lost all of my readers... T_T**

**To those of you who have been waiting for months, I have finished another chapter as a New Year's present.**

**It's to the end of the year with good, warm feelings.**

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**Deidara**

_There is no such thing as fate_, I told myself repeatedly as I flew the dragon over the grassy plains of the country. _Humans have the will to control their own futures._

I had seen the puppet. Actually, I had not seen the whole thing, but when I first laid my eyes on the hand that Sasori was crafting, I immediately knew whose it was. No one else's hand was neither that hopelessly small, nor quite that peach golden color. And when I saw Saya's face just when we were about to take off, I immediately knew that she had seen it.

Admitting that I cared about Saya from the moment I met her was now clear in my mind, but I refused to believe that I had any special feelings for her. She wasn't breathtakingly beautiful, though the way her face lit up when she smiled caught me off guard sometimes. And her eyes always seemed to shine, those brilliantly red-brown, wide eyes…

I groaned before I averted my thoughts._ That doesn't mean I like her._ She was annoyingly dim at times, but surprisingly—and intrudingly—sharp at times when I wanted her to be dense. Her tendency to get nervous easily sometimes made me nervous, but the way she acted when she was nervous was irresistibly cute…

I groaned again. _There is absolutely no way I have feelings for this stupid, ugly, naïve girl!_

"Deidara?" she asked uncertainly from behind me. "Are you… sick? Should I steer?" she added hopefully.

I grinned. "Kids like you should mind your own business and sit quietly in the back seat."

"You're a year older than me!"

"Two years since three weeks ago," I corrected her, rather smug. "Since before I met you, un."

"Your birthday passed?" she asked, as if she were surprised that I even had a birthday.

"Yeah," I answered. When she became silent, I turned around, wondering what was wrong. Her face looked almost melancholy before she grinned.

"Then we'll have to celebrate once we get to the house," she decided. "We'll eat cake, have lots of food, and watch the sun set!"

I turned back around, looking at the snow-peak mountains far ahead. "You don't have to do that. There's not much to celebrate."

"Baka," she said, resting her head on my shoulder. Alarmed, I almost diverted off course before putting myself together. "It might not be much for you to celebrate, but it is for me. If you weren't born, I wouldn't have met you."

Feeling her warmth on my shoulder, I was glad that she couldn't see my face.

But then she added happily, "'Cause then, I wouldn't be able to ride on your C2 dragon!"

**Saya**

When we had descended, I instantly fell in love.

The house was Japanese, with sliding doors, an all-around porch, and a tiled roof. In front was a traditional oriental garden path with a red bridge over a natural stream. Sakura and maple trees were everywhere, placed along the path, surrounding a small lake in the backyard, reminding me of the lake at the Akatsuki base. As always, the same mountains were behind the house in the distance, but much closer than from the other home. It was a surreal place; I was surprised to find that the Akatsuki were such aesthetic lovers.

"Do you ever get used to this beauty?" I asked Deidara, breathing in the natural air.

"Never," he answered as he stood next to me. I was about to ask if we could stay out here for a while, just to appreciate the scene, when he suddenly tensed.

"What?" I asked, alarmed.

"Someone's here," he replied, taking off his cloak, throwing it over me, and hastily placing his kasa on my head before throwing _me_ back onto his clay dragon. I shook the white strips of cloth out of my face, adjusting his Akatsuki hat so I could see what was happening.

"Oi, wait!" I said as the dragon's wings began to flap. "Deidara, don't—!"

He didn't take his eyes off the house before urgently shouting to me, "Don't show your face!" Something in his voice told me he desperately needed me to follow his instructions without question, and I reluctantly looked away as the dragon took off.

"How noble," the unmistakably creepy voice chilled right down my spine as I realized who it was. The dragon was starting to fly away, but I didn't want to leave Deidara here by himself. "Is that your new pet?"

"Orochimaru," said Deidara defiantly, "What brings you back here, and with… is that really him?"

"My newest," he answered proudly. "I've just returned to pick up something I've forgotten… long ago. He's here just in case some of you were here to try to do anything to stop me. It is our safe house, after all. Well, it's not mine anymore, right, Deidara-kun?"

"I'm afraid I can't let you leave after you've intruded our house," said Deidara. "Leader will want an explanation for your unexpected return."

"As I said, I'm here to pick up some things I've left from when I was one of you."

"I'll believe you after Itachi's done interrogating you. Will you come quietly? You know what I have to do if you don't."

Orochimaru's laugh sickened me. "Deidara-kun, you're as young and fierce as they said you were. What can you do against me and my strongest pupil?"

"I'll take that as a no," Deidara replied before I heard movement. The distorted sound of Orochimaru's laughter rang unpleasantly again.

"Deidara-kun, you are as skilled as I've heard," he remarked. "… But you've left a clear opening."

Deidara's voice changed gravely. "Shit!"

And before I realized what he was talking about, a rush of wind blew Deidara's kasa off my head as I stared into the eyes of the one character I thought I would never see in this world.

"S-Sasuke," I breathed, unable to move. He stood in front of me on the airborne dragon, his sword at my throat. His dark hair, cold eyes, intimidating presence left me with nothing to say.

"Do I know you?" he asked rather indifferently, his robes ruffling loosely with the wind. Suddenly scared for Deidara, I realized why Sasuke had accompanied Orochimaru on this otherwise errand-like trip to the Akatsuki home.

"You can't be too far from your clay figure," Orochimaru explained his tactics to Deidara. "It has your chakra, so you need to control it. That's why she was still in range and became your weakness. Such a distance is easy for Sasuke-kun with his speed."

It took me a second to realize that the dragon hadn't moved since it took off into the air. I was so immersed in their less-than-warm greetings that I didn't notice.

"So tell me, who is she?" he asked curiously. "For you to cover her identity and make her escape so quickly, she must be an important new addition to the Akatsuki." Deidara didn't answer, but continued to glare back at him. "Or, maybe that's not it at all? Your reaction to my presence was rather… _instinctive_. Is she, perhaps, your lover?"

At the word 'lover', I instantly blushed as Sasuke continued to stare into my eyes. I wanted to look away in embarrassment, but Sasuke seemed as if he would attack if I made the slightest movement. Orochimaru seemed to notice.

"Ah, so she doesn't know? Your object of affection, then?"

"She's nothing to us but a captive for an important mission," Deidara answered, his voice heated. "If you hurt her, you'll be in the way of our plans, and the Akatsuki will see you as an enemy."

"You," Sasuke spoke to me again, his voice cold and sharp. "Are you with the Akatsuki? Have you seen Uchiha Itachi?"  
"Don't speak, hostage!" Deidara threatened sharply. "You'll know what'll happen."

I knew how to translate his harsh words: _don't say anything, or you'll just put yourself in more danger_. But I wasn't thinking about that. All I was thinking about was how Sasuke would take Deidara, desperate to know where his older brother was.

"Sharingan," Sasuke said calmly, and the truth was forced out of my memories. When he had finished, his eyes suddenly became filled with a loathing determination. "_Where is he_?" he suddenly lowered his sword and grabbed me by Deidara's cloak.

_No_, I thought desperately, trying to resist. _Get out of my head…_ If he sees where Itachi was, then everyone would be in danger.

"Hello, my old partner."

Distracted, Sasuke and I turned to see Sasori's smirk, along with Pain, Hidan, and Kisame.

"Sasori," Orochimaru greeted back cheerfully, "And you brought others! I feel touched to be visited by so many of my old comrades."

"You," Sasuke recognized Kisame as Itachi's partner. "Orochimaru, we're not leaving until I find out where he is."

"Sasuke-kun, that might be a little difficult…"

He took me by the collar again, staring into my eyes. "Where is he?"

"Uchiha Sasuke." Pain's voice resounded far more authoritatively than the others, and even Orochimaru looked at him strangely. "If you harass our hostage any longer, we'll all attack. Even I know just from looking at you for the first time that you won't kill her."

_Well that was a relief._ But I also knew that deep inside, he didn't want to kill anyone but his brother.

"Sorry, kid, but I can't have you killing her nor Itachi." Kisame said, drawing his sword. "Give up now."

"I don't give a damn about either of them," added Hidan impatiently. "Can we start fighting now?"

"Under normal circumstances, we would reprimand and interrogate you before letting you go," said Pain, "But we'll let you leave quietly if you return her to us now."

"Really, I get this much attention just for picking up some old potions…" Orochimaru remarked before accepting his defeat. It was a two-on-five battle, after all. "Sasuke-kun, we're leaving."

But he didn't let go of me. Continuing to stare into my eyes, knowing that the others would attack as soon as he reactivated his Sharingan, Sasuke clenched his teeth, tightening his grip. "I'll find you, no matter where you go. The moment you're vulnerable, I'll appear and make you tell me where he is…"

And as they both began to leave through the forest, he turned back around and did something very un-like his character. He smirked and half-whispered in an ominous voice before disappearing, "Saya."

**Sasuke**

It was so strange to see the first memory of Itachi in her mind. It seemed so surreal, so unbelievable that Itachi would be in that scenario.

The first thing Itachi had said was her name: Saya. It was night time, and they were together as if they were… happy. I didn't know what she meant to Itachi, but I was about to find out.

"That girl," Orochimaru said as we ran, "Saya is interesting. At first I thought she was a normal village girl since I didn't feel her chakra, but I was wrong. Her chakra presence wasn't low, it was non-existent."

I stopped, staring at him. "Then what is she?"

"She definitely looked human," he remarked, grinning the same way he did whenever he found something new to his interest. "But maybe she isn't completely the same… ah, it makes me want to experiment on her." Then he looked at me, pleased for some reason. "And you acted differently from usual. Did you mean what you said to her?"

I looked forward, not seeing anything but Itachi's face. "I mean everything I say about him." Who was this girl to spark such emotions from my stoic, unfeeling brother? I couldn't help myself from taunting her a little. Anyone who Itachi cared about deserved it.

"Then…" he said, his evil grin widening. "We should start preparations to steal her away."

My insides burned with anticipation of finally finding Itachi. "What were you trying to accomplish by provoking Deidara?" I asked, my tactical habit kicking in.

"Ah, that," he said, laughing. "He's in love with her."

"How do you know?"

He looked at me, his eyes greedy with desire. "Sasuke-kun, you didn't notice the way his eyes filled with fear when you went to attack Saya? He was a perfect exemplar of an Akatsuki member beforehand, threatening us calmly, tactfully preparing for our capture, staying silent when I interrogated him. But when I had provoked him about his feelings for Saya, he started to break that impenetrable façade. Love makes humans weak, Sasuke-kun."

I nodded in understanding. "So she's Deidara's ultimate weakness."

**Saya**

"Don't mind what he said, Saya."

But Pain's words did nothing to calm the shock that I received from Sasuke's unusual behavior.

"_I'll find you, no matter where you go."_

"We'll protect you."

_"The moment you're vulnerable…"_

"Saya!"

I jumped, seeing Deidara's face as he jumped onto the clay dragon. I didn't notice that we landed.

"What did he see when he activated his Sharingan?" he never looked so severe.

I spoke so the others could hear as well. "He saw the night when Itachi talked to me after Sasori…" I paused. Everyone knew that I was talking about his possession of Deidara's body, but the silence was still uncomfortable. I looked at everyone reassuringly. "Don't worry; I didn't show him the base's location…" My words drowned into silence as I saw their faces.

"Saya," said Pain quietly, "Itachi comforted you that night, right?"

"Uh, right," I answered, a little embarrassed. To my surprise, all of their faces fell. Well, except for one of them.

"At least we have more people." Hidan said cheerfully. "We can take them on."

"We have a situation, indeed," remarked Sasori.

"Saya, you might be Sasuke's target to get to Itachi." Pain explained. "He'll be after you."

"Well, I sort of know that," I said sarcastically, reminding them of Sasuke's threat. "What I want to know is why he's after _me_ and not any of you."

"Well…" Pain looked uncomfortable for the first time I've seen him. "If what you've said about what Sasuke saw is right, then… he might think that Itachi's in love with you."

I stared at him, unable to process his last words for a while.

"… What?"

_Itachi, in love? With me?_

The words still didn't register into my mind as I entered the house and the others left.

That was impossible. How could _anyone_ misinterpret that? Was Sasuke really that stupid?

And I became his target… for that?

Leaving my belongings in front of the closet in my new room, I sat on the futon, appreciating its soft comfort in my misery. _I must have the worst luck in the world._

Opening the large window and breathing in the fresh air, I thought about what Pain had discussed for our current plans.

"_We'll keep to the schedule," he said to me privately. "I'm leaving Sasori here for extra protection. He was to accompany you on your mission, anyway. Itachi will not meet with you next week for your session; I'll send Madara instead. Don't travel. Orochimaru would never appear before you in the same place again; he knows we're not stupid. And Saya," he added, looking at me meaningfully, "There's a reason I chose Sasori. Please consider that."_

Even now, I didn't exactly understand what he meant. Obviously he knew that there was something between us; it was hard not to notice. But did he want me to end it or…?

"Saya," Deidara entered the room. "If you want me to stay outside to keep watch…"

I caught his hint quickly. There was no reason to keep a vigil; he just wanted to give Sasori a chance to talk to me privately. It was time to find what Sasori had been keeping from me. "Thanks." He was considerate at times when I needed him to be the most.

And soon enough, Sasori had appeared at my door, looking at me. Seeing his face almost frightened me; something was about to end, right now.

"It wasn't goodbye, after all." He said, walking towards me. "I'm here, and a day hasn't passed."

"How did you even know we were in trouble?" I asked him.

"Zetsu," he answered. I should have known; I would have to thank him later.

He didn't stop walking, and it made me a little nervous. "Did you find out where they went, Sasuke and Orochimaru?"

"They left a cryptic trail," he said, moving ever closer, "But Kisame and Hidan are tracking them."

"Is Pain going through a lot of trouble because of me?" I asked, trying to ignore the fact that he didn't seem like he was going to stop moving towards me.

"Hardly," he replied. "He's been in much worse situations before. Orochimaru wanted to be found so Sasuke could get leads on Itachi, and you've created a chance for us to kill Orochimaru, so Pain's probably thankful."

"Uh…" I said as his hands reached to take my arms, trying to think of more questions. "Will I be able to see Itachi again?"

"Why are you asking distracting questions and averting from the real question you should be asking me?" he took my arms and pulled closer until there was no space between us.

"What question?" I asked, fighting myself from turning red again.

He smirked. "Playing dumb, again, I see." His hands started moving down my arms to take my hands. "You were so persistent earlier, yet you've never actually told me that you loved me."

"Sasori?" I asked, uncertain of what he was trying to say. _Was I dreaming? No way; I actually wanted something like this to happen? I had such an unconscious desire?_

"You thought I didn't love you," he said, locking his fingers with mine. "You were so convinced… until you saw yourself, until you saw the Saya I created." He leaned in to my ear. Furious that his voice was so sultry, I shivered as he whispered, "Ask me. Ask me the question."

I was panicking. Question? What question? _That_ question? There was no way that I was going to ask him such an embarrassing question!

He seemed to enjoy watching my uneasiness, not letting me go. "Should I make you?" he offered, looking way too eager from the thought of it.

"W-Wait!" I panicked as he started his own movements. "There _is_ no question! It's never been a question!"

And he drew his head back, looking at my face. "You couldn't be more right, Saya." he remarked, smiling. I blanked out at his smile, completely taken in.

That was, until I heard his next words.

"My feelings have never been questionable. I love you."

I was unable to breathe for a moment; my heart was racing. "Y-You're joking," I said, but foolishly; his eyes and his expression showed the truth so clearly even someone as dense as I was would understand. Trying to break away, I wanted to run, but he pulled me back, holding me so tightly that I felt like my heart was going to burst from being so overwhelmed.

"I love you." His words pierced through me again, leaving me unable to breathe properly.

"Sasori…"

"Don't forget what I say now." His voice was unheedingly sincere. "I can feel emotions again because of you. Love, hurt, happiness… I tried so hard to let you go, but I can't anymore. You told me about your feelings and wouldn't leave me no matter how hard I tried, so I have lost." he released me enough to look into my eyes.

Seeing such a sincere, kind Sasori like this scared me. I didn't know what to do. "I-I don't, I can't… _think_. Nothing makes sense right now. All I can think of is your arms around me, and how you still can't feel anything, even though you're holding me so tightly…"

"I can feel your heat," he said, holding me tighter. "You're warming my soul. If I did feel your body, I would have taken you already. You don't know how much I regret living in this immortal puppet."

That scared me a little. "Well, it's a good thing, then." I lied, trying to be the comic relief in this intense atmosphere. "We can't ever kiss, have sex…"

"Who said that we wouldn't?"

I gaped at him. "You're not serious?" When he didn't move, I started panicking again. "_Now_?"

He laughed, his lips at my neck. "You love me, don't you?"

"Let go!" I said, half-crazed, trying to run away. "Who said I did? Let go, pervert! You can't do this! This is a violation of my innocence! Stupid puppet, listen to me! My heart isn't prepared for this kind of thing yet…!"

But he smiled and I lost myself for a moment as he climbed on top of me, pinning my arms to the futon. Deciding that my life was over, I closed my eyes and braced myself, but all I felt was a tiny peck on the forehead. Confused, I opened my eyes again.

"Who said that we were going to do it _now_?" he asked, smirking. "Or, did you want to that badly?"

Realizing that I was played, I flamed.

"Baka Sasori!"

* * *

**Happy New Year, everyone! I hope you all find love.**


	15. Birthday Tasks

**I re-read my story and the reviews I received from the past year, and I couldn't help laughing. Thanks, everyone, for your awesome feedback! I had fun reading the reviews from my earlier chapters.**

**... So a reviewer by the name of Isabella asks me at the end of the previous chapter, "What about Deidara?"**

**I'm so glad she asked me that question.**

**

* * *

**

Deidara

I had an idea of what was going to happen when I decided to give Sasori his fair chance. It wasn't likely that they would be together, since Sasori was supposed to let her go; we had all agreed that it was for the best. Sasori did not break his promises to Itachi, even if he did to me.

But it didn't stop me from getting angry at… the forest. Walking to a tree, I punched it because it was so freaking green. I kicked a large rock as far as I could because it was so stupidly round. Why was it so round?! Stupid rock.

Saya had feelings for him, and it didn't make sense.

_I lost to a freaking puppet?!_ Fuming, I wanted to blow the entire forest up. And if I even _saw_ Sasori's face in the next twenty-four hours, I probably would not be able to control myself from blowing his face up.

"Deidara."

I turned eagerly, explosives ready in my hand when Sasori approached me.

"Yes?" I answered evilly, my eyes shining. But when I saw his expression, I lowered my hands, suddenly not in the mood to blow things up anymore. For once, it wasn't blank or emotionless; it was just sad.

"I want you to promise me something."

I stayed silent, pretty certain that I would not promise him anything for a while.

"I… can't be with Saya. You and Itachi know why; you've known from the start; she can't be happy loving a puppet. And I've become so possessively in love that even now, I want to lock her away with me forever, even if she doesn't love me." For once, his emotionless expression showed some sign of pain. "Before I really won't be able to let her go, take her away, Deidara. I know you care about her, even if you don't have feelings for her. And I know Itachi will take good care of her. You and Itachi are her true keys to happiness. You can give her everything I can't. I want you to promise me to give Saya happiness, even if that means you find her a new love."

I stared back at him, seriously worried. "Oi, Sasori no Danna, you're not—?"

"Don't worry about me. After you hear it, you'll hope that you never see me again. I'm not going to die, or leave the Akatsuki. I've already told Pain everything. I need to atone for the things I've done in my life." He smiled sadly, and his words immediately hit home. "Tell Saya everything except for what I'm about to say to you right now. I will be travelling, searching for a way to find a new, living body; she won't like it if I use someone else's, so I won't ask Orochimaru for help. If I ever succeed, whether it be ten, twenty, thirty years later, I'm coming back," he suddenly grinned, "And I'm taking Saya away."

His last words alarmed me, and at first I fiercely glared at him. But then I realized that, finally, after years of being partners, after countless times of arguing over art, he respected me. For the first time, he saw me as a rival.

I grinned back, accepting the challenge. "It's a promise," I confirmed, taking the hand of my partner.

**Sasori**

Nighttime had arrived, and I lay beside Saya the entire night. When dawn began to break, I rose reluctantly, almost changing my mind at that moment to forget the journey and stay with her forever. But I knew I had to leave if I had any hope of being the man she could love happily.

Kissing her forehead, I gazed at her sleeping face one last time.

"Sasori…" she said in her sleep, surprising me. I smiled, wishing I could see her dream with her. But then my smile turned into a smirk when I wondered if it were a sensual dream.

I could hear her breathe, and it allured me. Moving close, wishing I could feel her breath on my lips, I almost kissed her, but stopped myself. I wanted her to be awake for our first kiss. I wanted to feel her lips when we kissed.

My hand clenched more tightly on the futon sheets when I watched her stir. I had to leave.

_I'll come back for you, Saya. I promise._

**Saya**

Deidara had told me everything.

"_There's a reason I chose Sasori. Please consider that."_

_"Don't forget what I'm about to say now."_

Pain and Sasori's words rang through my head as I realized now what they had truly meant. The reason Sasori was so direct, the reason he felt the need to say "I love you" over and over…. was that he knew he was going to leave me, forever. I was such an idiot to not realize it.

Deidara was sitting with me on the back veranda of the house, simply listening. Breakfast was still on the table, but it was past lunchtime.

"So he left because he thought that I would never be happy with him." I repeated what Deidara had said hours earlier. "And if I try to chase after him, the rest of you will stop me. What an idiot…"

"I couldn't disagree more," he said. "It might be okay now, but you'll never be satisfied, Saya. He doesn't even have a full heart; how could he be considerate of your feelings like that? He might have enough of it to love you, but he's a selfish lover, Saya. He's possessive, dominating, and stalker-like." He shivered and looked at me disbelievingly. "You liked someone like him?"

"Shut up," I said, still not able to cry. I was so depressed that I was beyond the point of crying. "He left… just when he finally confessed. I was the happiest I'd ever been in my life… for about twelve hours."

He gripped his cup of tea as he looked out into the mountainous scenery. "I shouldn't pry, but I think the fact that he left for your happiness in the long run was his deepest act of love." The breeze flew past us on the veranda, and even though the morning sun was warm, I felt cold. "If he were really selfish, I suppose, he'd stay with you as he is and make you sacrifice for his sake forever."

"I would have."

"I know. Apparently, he knew, too."

My head was in my heads; I didn't have the will to keep it up by itself. "What kind of person," I asked him after an eternity of silence, my voice finally cracking, "Can fall so deeply in love in just a few weeks?"

His eyes darkened as he kept them on the beautiful scenery. "The kind of person who's lucky enough to be so sure," he answered quietly.

**Deidara**

Saya was recovering slowly.

But the fact that she was recovering relieved me. It was good that Sasori broke it off early, right after clearing any misunderstandings or lies. I probably couldn't have done it better.

Pain, knowing our situation, had sent a letter with his eagle saying that our time here was extended. Everyone knew about Sasori's departure even before I did; he had probably told them right before he left the base to save us. Thinking about how Itachi would feel that his one of his only friends left, I became melancholy again.

Saya would spend her free days taking a walk around the lake or sitting under the large maple tree. I didn't disturb her; she needed that time to herself. Meanwhile, I reinforced my training plans between making meals and thinking of ways to speed up her recovery process.

One day I couldn't take her sadness anymore.

"We're going to celebrate my birthday today," I said to her during breakfast one morning. "Remember you told me about it? Well, I've decided that it's going to be today."

"Really?" she said in a flat voice, staring at the mountains. "… Okay."

I controlled myself from irritation at her lack of enthusiasm. "Understand, gaki?! That means you have to bake me a cake, make me a whole lot of delicious food, and watch the sun set with me!"

She yawned as she stood to take her dishes to the sink. "Okay," she answered.

I broke my chopsticks from gripping them too hard. '_Okay', is it? _You _were the one who suggested it first! _Normally, I would never have allowed her to get this far without teaching her a physical lesson first, but considering her circumstances, I desperately calmed my anger.

"So, what're you doing?" I asked innocently, smoothly avoiding an explosion. "Go ahead, start baking."

She yawned again, walking over to the refrigerator. I followed her, wondering what she was doing, when she handed me the milk.

"What's this?" I asked her, confused.

She turned to me. "Milk," she replied. I almost fell over from her stupidity.

"I _know_ that, baka. I mean, what are you doing, handing it to me?"

She stared at me (if she weren't depressed from a serious love rejection I would've pounded her) as if _I _were the stupid one. "You're helping me bake the cake, baaaaaaka."

And with that, I lost it, smashing the milk carton over her head, spilling milk all over her hair, clothes, everything. I even got some on me. She blinked as if she were still registering what had just happened. Then, several seconds later, she shivered.

_Why such a late reaction?_ I gaped at her, wondering if she could get any slower. _She's a complete failure as a ninja._

I thought that she was going to yell at me, but she stayed silent, continuing to search for more ingredients. At first I was concerned that she was still too depressed to get angry until I saw that she was opening an egg carton while hidden behind the fridge door, and, before I could react, she smashed an egg on top of my head.

I simply stared at her, feeling the cold ooze down my hair and onto my forehead. Then I smirked. She had some nerve.

Taking four eggs from the open carton, I tossed one at her, hitting her shoulder as she reloaded as well. She threw one at my head, and I dodged it, acknowledging her daring; she was going for the face. Well, if she wanted to play dirty…

Instead of throwing them from a distance, I approached her, and she backed up, starting to run away and shouting when I grabbed her from behind, pulled her close while laughing, and smashed three eggs on top of her head. She yelled and crushed an egg on the side of my head as she struggled to escape. When I let go in surprise, she turned and laughed, clutching her stomach and pointing.

_Alright then_, I thought slyly. _You asked for it_. With no eggs left, I tackled her to the kitchen floor and wiped the slimy side of my head on her face. She writhed as I spread the raw egg all over her cheek, laughing at the tickling feeling. Little did I know that she had one egg left, and she managed to smash it down my back in the inside of my shirt, and I shuddered uncontrollably as the cold rushed down my back.

"Deidara, get off!" She had made the grave mistake of cracking it on me while I was still on top of her, so she felt every twitch and tremble that I made. I laughed at her stupidity, and she laughed at the tickling feeling of my laughter on her. We laughed until we couldn't breathe anymore, and I turned so I lay beside her on the messy kitchen floor.

Somehow, I felt that we had done something incredibly strange, but I didn't care. She grinned at me for the first time since Sasori left, with egg and milk dripping all over her, and said, "You brought me back to life."

**Saya**

"No, baka, the frosting goes on _after_ it's baked." I placed the cake into the oven, closing the door.

"Saya, if you call me 'baka' one more time, I swear, round two will start, and I'll win again."

"Who said you won?" I asked, insulted. "It was a draw; I thought we agreed on that earlier!" Remembering to our argument as we showered earlier in adjacent curtained cells (there was only one bathing room), I felt betrayed. "And how come you don't even know how to bake a cake?"

Suddenly defiant, he shot back, "I never baked a cake before, so I don't know! I've never had cake on my birthday anyway."

I instantly regretted asking. Deidara probably never celebrated his birthday before; that's why I was so determined to celebrate it when I had heard about it on the dragon.

"Well, now you know," I said, looking at him. "So you have to bake a cake with me on your birthday from now on. If you won't, I'll kill you."

He smirked, his nose nearly clashing with mine. "You have some guts, kid. _You_? Kill _me_?" And although he strangled me again, I caught the genuine grin on his face and I couldn't help smiling too.

"So what else does one do on his birthday?" he asked me curiously as we waited for the cake to turn golden.

"Well," I said, smirking mischievously, "You're supposed to do me as many favors as whatever age you are now. So that means you have to do eighteen things that I ask for."

"What?!" he looked skeptical. "You're full of crap."

"Alright, birthday master, _you_ can do the rest of the cake by yourself…" I said, starting to walk away.

"Maybe I will," he retorted stubbornly.

"… Fine, I'll reduce the number to five, just for this year. I'm being generous."

I tried to keep a straight face as I stared at him and grinned as he finally sighed. "What do I have to do?"

"… Do I really have to do this? On my birthday?"

Deidara was grumpy without his left eye scope. Task number one was that I could wear his scope for the day and make him pull back his hair from covering the left side of his face.

"You're only on number two!" I insisted, waiting patiently for him to finish his clay-making. "Come on; teach me how to make one."

His eye twitched; he seemed angry. "You know, this isn't a technique that just _anyone_ can do…. it's my personalized art!"

"Yeah, yeah, okay." I said for the tenth time after repeatedly hearing that. "Just hurry up and spit it out."

With that, his hand mouth spit one rather grudgingly at my hand. A little disgusted from Deidara's hand saliva, or whatever it was, I picked up the clay.

We made little animals; mine were considerably worse than his.

"You suck," he observed, clearly pleased.

"Shut up! I don't have chakra to help me!"

But after watching the swift, skillful, and incredibly artistic way he shaped his clay, I knew that I was just making excuses.

"What _is_ that?" he said, appalled by my most recent figure.

"It's a rabbit," I replied. "Can't you tell?"

"It looks like a deformed cat," he said, taking it. Just from moving it around in one hand for a few moments, he fixed it.

"Whoa, it's cute." I remarked, taking it and examining it. "Can you make it jump?"

"I'm not going to make it jump," he said, sweat dropping.

"Do it. It's part the task."

"You can't just randomly add stuff to the task!"

"And how would you know that; are you the birthday specialist?"

He glared at my pleased smirk. Then reluctantly, he concentrated on it as it jumped to life and started hopping around. I laughed at its cuteness, trying to catch it.

"Just wait until it explodes in your face," he said, looking way too excited at the thought of it.

"Ah! The cake's done!" I stood and ran over to the oven, opening it.

"How do you know?" he asked, by my side in an instant.

"Intuition," I replied, admiring the cake's golden color as I took it out. I decided to leave out the part that I didn't want the rabbit to explode in my face. "Okay, when it cools, we'll frost it."

"Baking a cake takes so long," he complained. "I just want to eat it."

"There's a reason I made you help me," I said, turning to him. "Number three: my birthday is January 8th. Your task is to remember it. You're going to help me bake a cake on my birthday, too."

**Itachi**

Tobi turned to me on the living room couch, obviously wanting something.

"Hey, Itachi-senpai, what do you think Saya and Deidara are doing right now?" he asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" said Konan from the kitchen. "A teenage boy and girl, all alone, living together in a private, beautiful vacation home… the chances of them doing it right now: roughly 100 percent."

"Whoa!" Tobi grinned. "So _that's_ what they do when they're alone together!"

"Didn't you know, Tobi?" asked Konan, suddenly by his side, her eyes shining. "They've been in a very active sexual relationship. The first time they did it, it was so intense, Saya _passed out_." (refer to chapter seven)

"Whoa!" he seemed fascinated. "Does that mean Deidara's good in bed?"

"Well, she said it sucked, but that's just her being shy!" Konan assured him. Tobi nodded, eager to hear more of their sex life. I stared at both of them, wondering why I was living with these two.

But I couldn't help feeling a little worried, and I sweat dropped at the thought of Deidara taking advantage of their aloneness together.

_Saya… be careful…._

"Yep," Konan had replied to something Tobi had anxiously asked. "Right now, they're having passionate, hot, teenage sex!"

**Deidara**

"Baka, don't put it there!"

I had to keep from showing my confusion; for the first time in a while, I had no idea what to do. "Then… where?"

"Ah! It's coming out! What're you doing?! Hurry up and do it!"

"D-Do what?" I asked, nervous. I positioned it uncertainly. "Here?"

"You were the one who wanted to do it so badly, and now you're hesitating." She took the leaking decorative frosting tube out of my hands and started squeezing it, writing over the white cream-covered cake.

"Oh, that's how you do it," I remarked, nodding. I took the tube away again. "I can do it now."

She sighed as she leaned back onto the counter. "Deidara, I thought you were supposed to be smart."

"Shut up!" But I couldn't be too angry; I was concentrating on writing the perfect letters of my name. "So this is another form of art, un."

All we did that day was play and play, and as we watched the sun set, I felt the happiest I had ever been on my 'birthday'.

"Next time, we'll do the food fight in someone else's kitchen," Saya said, leaning back on her arms as we sat on the lakeside. "Cleaning up wasn't fun."

"Cleaning up _was_ fun," I insisted, still too happy for the unusual kindness to go away.

"That's strange, coming from the person who loves to destroy everything." She looked at me and grinned. "You're pretty good at it, too."

"It's one of my many talents."

"Right, right," she said, sweat dropping, looking back at the twilight. Her face, lit by the light of the horizon and its reflection in the lake, caught me off guard. "Deidara, why _do_ you like exploding things so much? I can understand why one would love art, but your particular style is… unique."

I didn't answer for a while, feeling my hair blow softly in the warm breeze.

"That… has to do with my past."

She looked curious, but I could see the melancholy in her eyes. "Then tell me about it."

Since I joined the Akatsuki, I never wanted anyone to know my personal past, so I never asked about anyone else's. We had that understanding to give each other distance, since we were all mature adults. Saya was like an intruding force, inconsiderate of my lack of openness, always trying to learn everything about me. The more she wanted to know, the more frightened I became that she would hate me. But as she learned more and more about my true nature and looked into the darkest parts of my soul, incredibly, she didn't turn away.

I didn't know how much further I could go until she really would hate me.

"I'll tell you that story some other time," I answered, gazing at the stars.

She had fallen asleep much later, and although she forgot about task number five, I didn't mind at all.

_Tomorrow we have to start the death training_, I realized, grimacing. Instead of settling on that thought, I instead reminisced to the long-awaited presentation of the cake a several hours earlier. She had stuck a candle several times too wide into the cream since we had no spare birthday candles in the house. Saya told me that my fourth task was to make a wish and blow out the candle. I grinned as I remembered what I had wished for.

Snuggling closer to her, I placed my cloak over both of us.

**Saya**

The first thing I saw when I woke up was Deidara's grin. Yelling, I inched backward on the grass and he laughed.

"Stop doing that!" I said, my heart still racing. But he ignored me.

"Pick one," he said, pointing to a variety of weapons on the ground. There were standard shuriken (throwing knives and stars), two longer daggers, a bamboo rod, a katana (Japanese sword), a knuckle, a scythe, and a yumi (long bow).

"Why?" I asked, anxious.

"Because whichever one you pick is going to be your main weapon. Based on what you choose, I have to train you in a different way. So pick one." He was dressed in his mission gear, with his hair tied and his scope back over her eye.

"I thought shuriken were stuff every ninja had," I pointed out.

"If you don't want a special weapon, then that's what you get." He replied, clearly eager to start the training. "If you do, then you'll get those, too."

"Why aren't there any bombs? You use bombs."

"It's my signature style! Only I can do it. Do you have mouths in your hands?"

"Fine," I said, choosing the katana. "Happy?"

"Extremely," he replied, tossing it at me. "It's the easiest one for me to teach."

"Why?" I asked suspiciously.

"It's a mid-to-close-range weapon only," he answered, taking another katana out of his cloak. "Fighting with me alone will give you immense experience. Long-distance is the safest technique for you to learn, but the hardest to teach. And if you chose an even closer range weapon like the knuckles or daggers, I would have to train you harder; they're more dangerous choices for you."

"Okay, so I have my weapon. Now what?"

"Well," he looked me strangely, walking over. "You're not even holding it right; it's not a racquet. Hold it at the top."

As he fixed my grip, I grimaced. _Right, I'm not playing tennis._

"So we're going to start at the very beginning," he said. "You are now three years old at your first training with me, Deidara-sensei. I have one month to make you into the perfect shinobi."

I nodded. _Lucky me._

**Ah, finally, the humor returns in 2010. For Sasori fans out there, please don't get so upset. He's not as gone as you may think. ;)**

**Thanks, my old readers, for coming back. And if you're new to the story, thanks for coming across it and taking the time to read it. Your reviews make me happy.**


	16. Mission

**About being MIA for the past half-year... I was really stressed with classes. I apologize.**

**Uneditted. Too lazy.**

* * *

**Madara**

It was time to see how my cute little partner was progressing.

As I walked onto the grounds of the Akatsuki's vacation house, I looked forward to stripping her mind of all its private thoughts and memories. No one was home; that was to be expected in the late afternoon. They should still be in training.

I tracked and found them in a clearing off the shore of the lake. They were fiercely sparring; well at least Saya was. Deidara seemed to be enjoying himself, watching her and his clone fight from under a maple tree. But that didn't concern me. I stared at Saya, wondering if she had ever taken fighting lessons before.

Her footwork and leg strength were exceptional, almost as good as a genin's, which, for her level of experience, was phenomenal. She had good form, but her arms were terribly weak; that was her biggest flaw. Another huge weakness was her stamina; she would need to work on that. Otherwise, her speed, reaction time, and unpredictable fighting style were all good.

Deidara stood as I approached him, and we watched Saya and his clone train together.

"She's improved this much just from a week?" I asked him, still slightly impressed.

"Three days," he corrected. "She needed time alone after…"

That kept me quiet for a while. We both knew she was still broken over Sasori, but she would never show it now that training has started. "When is her next break?" I asked.

"She barely lets me stop her for meals, let alone for breaks," he replied, still looking at them. I figured; she wanted her mind to be occupied as much as possible so she wouldn't have to think about _him_. "You might be able to steal her during dinner."

Yet when I watched her fight, I started to question my analysis for her earnest attitude. "Why is she so determined?" It seemed strange that Saya would be so motivated to get stronger for a cause not her own, even if she wanted to forget about her other problems.

He grinned. "She just wants to hit me really hard."

**Saya**

Nighttime had fallen, and I was about to go at him again when he disappeared.

"Deidara?" I called, wondering why he had dismissed his own clone.

"Madara's here," he replied from beneath the tree. "It's time for your session."

I groaned, clumsily sheathing the katana onto my back. Wiping sweat off my face, I walked over to them.

"Ready for your weekly mind-violation?" Madara asked, grinning.

As he pushed me down and activated his Sharingan, I thought miserably, _I want Itachi back._

"So how has my Saya been doing?" Madara asked over dinner. I grimaced at the words, 'my Saya'.

"Fine without you, thanks."

"You know, you really suck at swordsmanship."

"Shut up, old man!"

When I noticed Deidara staring at both of us, I asked him, "What's wrong?"

"It's just… seeing Madara act so authoritatively is like… seeing Pain acting as Tobi." He shuddered at the thought. "Considering I used to think he was an idiot younger than me, it's just weird, mm."

Madara smirked. "You have to listen to what I say from now on, Deidara-_kun_."

Deidara flamed as I laughed, thankful that I wasn't the only kid to Madara now.

"I wouldn't be laughing if I were you, gaki." Deidara glared at me. "If you're finished eating, you can start your laps now."

"I'll throw it all up."

"Then you can walk the first two."

"… Demon!"

**A Month Later: Itachi**

Everyone turned when we heard footsteps, anxious to see Saya again. It had been over a month, and the base almost returned to the way it was before she had arrived. The difference in our daily lives between when she was here and when we had never met her was so profound, I didn't realize it until she was gone. Everyone was less connected, minding our own business most of the time and leaving the base according to our own agendas.

I understood that it was impossible for me to visit Saya and have our regular sessions as we always did, but I couldn't help feeling colder than usual this entire month. Sasuke's evolving Sharingan was becoming more and more irritating, even though I had wanted him to become stronger. Now, because of his misinterpretation of her memories, Saya became a prime target for him.

I started when I heard the door open, knowing it was them. I didn't expect a noticeable change in her appearance; the true results of her training could only be shown through combat.

Deidara walked in first, saying, "Tadaima." When I looked at him meaningfully, he simply grinned and stepped aside.

_Deidara_, I thought as I laid my eyes on her, _what have you done to her this past month?_

Saya's boyish layered hair grew slightly—the untidy, careless locks over her eyelashes and around her face projecting from her head a little gentler to look more feminine. But that natural growth was to be expected.

Her figure was slim and toned under her foreign black jacket; she had lost weight and gained muscle. She was probably even lighter than Deidara now. Seeing her in shinobi dress was very transforming by itself, with her weapon pouch on her right thigh and a long katana across her back. Her hands and sandal-wearing feet were wrapped in white bandages extending up her arms and legs, probably as a result of the intense training. But the most distinctive difference in her appearance was her eyes, looking fiercer and more confident than I had ever seen. She might have even looked cocky; her haughty facial expression strangely reminded me of Deidara's or Sasori's.

"Tadaima," she repeated, grinning widely.

"SAYA-KUN!" Tobi suddenly jumped onto her, but no one was surprised; we had all expected him to give her an overly warm welcome return. What I didn't expect was that instead of falling backwards onto the floor like she always did when he leaped into her arms, Saya easily supported his weight, laughing and swinging him around like a child.

_That was different._

"…Saya?" Kisame said uncertainly, staring at her strangely, like everyone else. For her to be so happy to see Tobi was a rare occasion, indeed…

Right when I began to doubt my own beliefs, I caught a glint in Saya's eye as she dropped him, watching him fall on his behind.

"That hurt, Saya-kun!" Tobi whined, rubbing his backside while everyone else broke out laughing.

"Glad you're back, kid," Kisame said, ruffling her hair and ignoring Tobi's complaints.

"Kisame-san," she acknowledged, grinning. When she looked around, puzzled, she asked, "Where's everyone? Zetsu, Hidan and Konan…?"

"They're on missions," Pain replied, walking over from his chair. "Deidara didn't treat you too harshly, did he?"

"Oi," Deidara cut in, frowning at our collected leader. "I did what you asked me to do."

"That's true," replied Pain.

"You're awfully soft now that Saya's back," Kakuzu noted, a hint of a smile in his eyes.

"Well, that's because he is her papa!" Tobi grinned widely.

Pain didn't return the grin. "Alright, somebody can kill Tobi."

"Gladly." Deidara started running after the masked man.

Tobi looked ruefully over his shoulder as he ran around the room. "You're cruel, Leader-san!"

Ignoring Tobi's cries for help, Saya gazed right at me for a few moments.

"Did you miss me that much?" I asked her, resisting the urge to smile.

She grinned. "Not as much as you missed me." She joked in her bold yet mellow voice. "You're in love with me, remember?"

**Pain… The Next Day**

"It's almost time."

Madara's words were like soft bells waking me from a peaceful dream: not strikingly disturbing, yet firmly reminding me of the trials that lay ahead.

"Is she ready?" I asked him.

"Enough to complete the mission," he assured. "We're not planning on making her fight; that's for Deidara, Sasori, and Itachi. But just in case…"

I nodded. "When will they leave?"

"Tomorrow. I can't delay the original plan any longer than I already have."

"And Sasori? Does he know his priorities? Is he ready for this mission?"

"His task and personal priorities are one and the same." Madara turned to smirk at me. "That's why I trust him so much for this mission."

Looking down at my hands, I knew that he was right. So much more than obtaining a bijuu was at stake.

**Saya**

After I took my unpacked belongings, I glanced back at my room one last time.

_Will I ever see it again?_ Its beautiful wall-size, natural portrait of the outside scenery still caught my breath, and I went back to touch the smooth window glass.

"Will you miss the view more than you'll miss me?"

I grinned at Madara's reflection in the window. "No hard feelings, partner."

"Look who's getting cocky," he leaned against the door frame. "You're just a kid and you're already mocking your terrifying, immortal, all-powerful leader."

"But we are partners, aren't we?" I reminded him, a smirk on my face. He abruptly turned me around, his hands on the glass beside either side of my head.

Pleased with my sudden bashfulness, he remarked, "At least this reaction is still the same. What did Deidara do to you? Since when did you become so rebellious?"

"Shut up!" I said, trying to hide my scarlet face. "I'm not afraid of you anymore!"

I knew he was enjoying this. "Such disobedient words from my Saya…"

"I'm not yours, you old, creepy—!"

His face came so close as his red eyes gleamed into mine. "Maybe I should remind you just how much control I have over you… just how easily I can threaten you into doing what I want."

**Madara**

"Ah, wait!" Saya said, reverting to her old self in desperation. "I take it back, I take it back! Someone help me!"

_She is a child, after all_, I thought, taking in her scent as I tried to take off her jacket. I hadn't seen her for only a week, yet I found myself impatiently waiting to for her to arrive. Now that she was leaving again, with no sign of when she would return, I only felt irritation… and an impulse to approach her. Her newly found defiance, though insolent, excited me. Bending my head forward, I looked at the floor in frustration. _Why did such an insignificant human incite me so?_

"Madara-san."

Saya's face lighted up with hope at Deidara's voice. Turning to him, she yelled, "Deidara! He's assaulting me! Help me out!"

"Would you please not rape my partner, Madara-san?" Deidara said, sighing. "I need her to focus during the mission."

"Oh," I said pleasantly, ignoring the disappointment I secretly felt. "Hello, Deidara-_kun_." It was so refreshing to be able to look down on him. "I'll be lonely with Saya gone for such a long time, so if you'll come back in about twenty minutes…"

"Madara-san!"

"Alright, just because Deidara-kun asked." I leaned away from Saya and started to leave. When I passed his ear, I whispered, "If you're not careful, you might be too late next time."

Although pleased with his reaction, I walked out of the room without a smile on my face.

**Saya**

Leaving the base was harder than it was the first time, since I knew that I wouldn't see this place and possibly its inhabitants again for a while. I mounted Deidara's dragon with Deidara and Itachi after a quick goodbye from Kisame, Kakuzu, and Pain. The rushed and informal goodbyes were rather ironic compared to our last parting, since this time I would be gone for much longer than one month. But the Akatsuki were never too expressive, and the last looks I received from everyone said the same thing: "we expect to see you again, so don't die."

Turning away from Madara's masked face below and looking forward to see Itachi and Deidara riding on the dragon in front of me, I made a promise to Madara in my mind.

_Don't worry, Madara._ _I'll definitely return._

**Deidara**

It had been twenty-four hours since we left the Akatsuki base, and we were still heading towards Sunagakure. Landing only when I needed to rest my concentration of controlling my flying dragon, we were making excellent time; we had already arrived in the Wind country.

"Saya, wake up." We had landed in the middle of the night, and I cooked us some of our food rations from Itachi's fire. She fell asleep while we were flying, so she was still curled in a blanket on the dragon. When she stirred and ignored my remark, I walked over and whispered in her ear, "If you don't wake up, I'll blow you up."

"Okay." She answered sleepily, her eyes still closed. After a month of this routine, Saya gradually became less threatened by that comment.

Grinning, I wasn't about to give up. "Then, do you want me to kiss you?"

She shot up, hitting my forehead as she did so. "I'm awake, I'm awake! Ah, there's food? Oh good, I was getting hungry…"

Rubbing my forehead, I looked after her with contempt. _Don't be so offended by that, baka_.

Her famished expression lit up as she drank some of the soup. "Wow, Deidara, you're a lot worse at cooking than Itachi."

"Shut up!" I said, already annoyed. "And it's Deidara-_senpai_ to you!"

"I thought you said you didn't care about that!"

"… Fine." I took the pot away from her, making a face. "Then call me Deidara-_sama_, and I'll give it back."

"Children," Itachi appeared from behind the trees with a slightly exasperated look on his face. "I can hear you from the other side of the forest."

"Shut up!" we both said at the same time before we could control our anger at each other, instantly regretting it when we saw his expression.

"Itachi, come back!" Saya called after him as he left immediately.

"Itachi!" I dropped my head in my hand. Whenever it came to this, Itachi would leave and return in the morning with a silent wrath that I didn't particularly want to remember. I practically threw Saya after him and shouted, "Quick, Saya, use your secret weapon!"

And she ran after him, catching the back of his cloak. Her voice changed from its fiery loudness from arguing with me to a gentle apology. "Nii-san*… I'm sorry. Don't leave."

When Itachi turned to look at her blankly, I knew we had won; he was finished when Saya had called him "nii-san". I grinned smugly to myself.

**Quick Interlude: How did this begin?**

The first time this happened was yesterday when I had angered Itachi by making fun of his unlikely affection for Saya. He never showed any emotion or care to anyone even in front of us members, so I considered it impossible for him to even have feelings. But when I had mentioned something along the lines of "Saya-obsession" and "imoto*-complex" to him over the campfire, he was just about ready to kill me. If it weren't for Saya's quick and unexpected genius, I would have most likely been murdered.

Ever since then, I deemed her "Itachi-nii-san" attack as my ultimate defense against the terrifying Uchiha.

_Even Itachi-san has a weakness_, I thought, unable to contain the huge smirk on my face as I watched Itachi's unusually baffled expression from across the campfire. But just as I was about to lie down and rest for a bit, both Itachi and I tensed at the same time. In less than a second, Itachi had put out the fire and I had thrown the hood of Saya's custom-made black cloak over her head.

"Someone's coming," Itachi said as I jumped onto the dragon. "They've just entered the forest. We have about three minutes; they're moving quickly."

"We can't depart yet; I'm lacking chakra for the C-dragon. I can't possibly hold all us up in the air." If I tried, I could support myself to land far enough away from here, and Itachi could disappear easily. The problem was…

"Go," said Saya. "I'll stay; they might just be travelers passing by."

"No sight-seeing tourists move that fast by foot," said Itachi, still gazing through the forest with his Sharingan. "I can't see them, but there's no doubt that they're ninja."

"Baka, don't say reckless things," I said to Saya. "You're the most important part of this mission; without you, there's no point." With a pop, my dragon shrank into my hand and I tucked it in my bag. "You come with me." I took her arm and started running. "I'll leave it to you, Itachi-san."

Itachi didn't need me to tell him; he was already performing his genjutsu* on the incoming party.

But when we all heard the voice of one of the arriving party members, Saya froze.

"Naruto…" she barely breathed, running back to Itachi.

"Baka!" I reached to pull her back, but her speed had improved so much that I missed by a margin.

"Itachi, you can't capture him now!" she said. "He'll either be with Kakashi or Jiraiya! He's definitely searching for Sasuke, and if he sees you he'll turn into the demon fox!"

After she hastily breathed words to him in desperation, Itachi hesitated for the briefest moment, quickly handed her something, and rushed to me.

"We can't leave her alone!" I protested, surprised at his unusual recklessness. "Remember what Madara told us!"

But when his eyes met mine, all doubts instantly disappeared from my mind. "If you don't trust me," he said, his voice severe, "then at least trust her."

After glaring back at him for a few more seconds, I began to run alongside him, my chest aching uncontrollably. No matter how immovable Itachi was, no matter how much I despised the Uchiha clan, and no matter how much I wanted to force emotion out of him, I never wanted to see that expression on his face ever again. Those eyes that betrayed his emotionless face and character struck straight into my soul.

And with that, we both ran into the deep of the forest, leaving our most important and vulnerable member behind.

**Saya**

I sat by the spent campfire, trying to calm myself. I knew that any team with Naruto wouldn't attack me without a reason, and yet I couldn't help the heavy thudding of my anxious heart.

Taking a pencil out of my pocket and opening a scroll, I scribbled away, hoping to appear as a harmless girl sketching the night scene. Footsteps were approaching ever closely, less than ten feet away, and then I saw them appear through the trees.

First entered Uzumaki Naruto, his spiky blonde hair, cerulean blue eyes, and flashy orange-and-black outfit particularly standing out in the dark forest. Next was the jounin-dressed Hatake Kakashi, his uncovered black eye studying me very carefully through his silver-grey hair. The pink-haired, green-eyed, also-cautious Haruno Sakura came next, looking more surprised than anything else. The last member, whom I thought was going to be Sai, took me by surprise.

"You smelled like a girl," Kiba reckoned, grinning. With sharp eyes, red paint on his cheeks, black clothes, and loose, spiky brown hair, Inuzuka Kiba resembled a stealthy, rather sly animal. His large, white-furred canine partner Akamaru entered, barking once at me.

Naruto immediately approached, looking over my shoulder at my sketches. "What're you drawing?" he asked curiously, no hint of suspicion or caution in his voice.

"Naruto," said Sakura warningly, and he retreated, looking sheepish.

"What's a girl doing in a forest in the middle of nowhere at this time of night?" Kakashi scrutinized me, though subtly.

Doing my best to casually repeat what I had gone through in my mind, I answered, "I'm traveling to Sunagakure; I have business there."

"By yourself?" asked Kiba, chuckling. "How old are you?"

"Old enough," I replied, regretting my young face.

"What business?" asked Kakashi. "I can't exactly place the business a girl carrying a katana has with Sunagakure." He looked around. "Where are the others?"

"Unfortunately, the people I was traveling with had to part ways with me." I said, remembering that Kakashi also had the sight of the Sharingan. "They're very cautious with strangers. Perhaps I'll meet with them again sometime in the future. As for my business," I decided to tell them the truth, or rather, part of it. "I've been summoned by the Kazekage."

"Gaara?" Naruto said, interested. "Why are you visiting him?"

"… I have been called by the late Kazekage's will, along with other guardians, to stay with his son for a while." For some reason, I really didn't want to state my real purpose for being summoned. But with just a glance at Kakashi's face, I could sense that he already understood.

Kakashi eyed me strangely. "What village do you come from?"

"Iwagakure*," I answered, remembering my role.

"And you are… a shinobi?"

I didn't know how to answer that question. If possible, I had wanted to come across as a harmless village girl wandering in the forests for artistic inspiration. But my katana and shinobi gear seemed questionable for that claim. "I know how to defend myself," I answered simply. "But I don't specialize in combat. This," I said, referring to my katana, "is mainly to scare people off."

"I don't sense any chakra from you," he confirmed. "But it's strange; you don't have even the slightest amount of chakra in you. I've never met such a person, shinobi or not."

"Now that you mention it," Kiba realized, and Sakura also showed signs of surprise. Naruto, as expected, was confused.

"Oi, Kakashi-sensei, so what's that supposed to mean?" Naruto asked.

"It just means I was born different," I answered quickly. "Shinobi-challenged, I suppose." Looking at his changed expression from my response, I was satisfied. I had suspected that he would drop the subject if I put it that way. After all, he should have understood better than anyone else.

"Mind if we join you?" he finally asked, which took me by surprise.

"You have business in Sunagakure?" It was already strange that Naruto had been assigned a mission with Kakashi and Sakura months before he was supposed to return to Konoha with Jiraiya, as in the original story. Had my interference with the Akatsuki's former plans made that much of a difference?

"We were informed that Orochimaru was seen in Sunagakure a few days ago," said Sakura. "He was suspected for stealing missing files belonging to the Kazekage."

"None of them were very important," added Kakashi, "but we're to go there both to be his temporary guardians and to find traces leading to Orochimaru."

"Basically, we're going after him to find Uchiha Sasuke." Kiba looked at Naruto, whose expression darkened at the mention of Sasuke's name, yet whose eyes hardened in determination.

"We'll definitely find him," he replied quietly. Sakura nodded in agreement.

Noticing the heavy atmosphere, I decided to break the tension. "… I suppose he's a close friend?" Playing stupid was the best option for now.

"He 's an ex-nin from our village," Kiba answered. "We have reason to believe that he's currently traveling with blacklist shinobi Orochimaru."

"That's enough about our mission, Kiba-kun," interjected Kakashi. "We've been rude; I'm Hatake Kakashi, and my team and I are from Konoha."

"My name's Uzumaki Naruto," Naruto said, still down from talking about Sasuke. "Nice to meet you."

"… Haruno Sakura," she answered quietly, obviously very cautious of me. She had good sense.

"You can call me Kiba." He smiled and sat down next to me. "What can I call you?"

"Saya," I answered. "Nice to meet you."

"Saya," he repeated, grinning widely. "Well, let's get along from now on, Saya."

"Since we're heading to the same place, and leaving a girl alone in the woods is against my beliefs as both a shinobi and a man, we'll accompany you to Sunagakure," replied Kakashi. "Now, there's time for conversation later," he said, dropping his belongings. "Now we need to sleep. We're still a day away."

**Kiba**

The moment the girl named Saya fell asleep, we quietly began to discuss our options regarding her accompaniment.

"She's alright by me," said Naruto lazily. "Can we sleep now? I need my energy for tomorrow."

"I don't trust her," Sakura replied immediately. "She doesn't have any chakra presence at all. That can't be normal, can it?"

"Well, she said she was like that since she was born." Setting a place down near Saya, I was at ease. "And she's been around nature a lot, so I think she's used traveling alone."

"How do you know that?" asked Naruto.

Lying down with my hands behind my head, I answered, "Her scent."

"Her weapon was made in Iwagakure, so she's probably not lying about her hometown, and she seemed like an honest person," Kakashi said. "But what troubles me most is her reason for traveling to Sunagakure."

Naruto looked at him strangely. "What d'you mean, Kakashi-sensei?"

Kakashi exhaled, seeming almost awkward to explain. "She said she was summoned by the former Kazekage's will, who you all know is Gaara's father. Almost all heads of noble families or families of power take their children's futures very seriously, whether it's about money, property, reputation, or marriage."

I started. "Wait a minute," I said, staring at him. "You don't mean…?" And I turned to the sleeping Saya next to me, seeing her in a completely new light.

"If I'm not mistaken," continued Kakashi, "I believe she is a chosen candidate to become Gaara's future life-partner."

"Wait, wait, wait, Kakashi-sensei." Naruto was in disbelief. "Gaara's our age! He's getting married?"

"It's not unusual for sons of powerful families to be betrothed at Gaara's age," Kakashi explained. "But he probably won't be officially married until he's older."

"So, what does that mean for her?" Sakura asked, nodding to Saya.

"She's probably the daughter of a well-respected family in Iwagakure, or she's been especially trained solely for the purpose of marrying someone with the 'kage' title." As Kakashi spoke, I became more skeptical. The girl sleeping next to me did not seem as that type of person at all. "But, what timing!" he continued. "Right after Orochimaru showed up in Sunagakure—stealing documents from the Kazekage himself—this happens."

"So what you're saying is, unknown women are coming to Sunagakure, all trying to win Gaara's hand." I analyzed. "And since they're from all over the world, from rich families and sophisticated backgrounds, we have no choice but to treat them like princesses." I shook my head at the perfect timing. "I see. It's the perfect chance for Orochimaru to send in a spy that'll get close to Gaara."

"So, basically, we have reason to suspect Saya," concluded Sakura.

"That's stupid," Naruto interjected, throwing down his bag. "Gaara's dad's trying to hook him up now? So that's all he cares about, that his son makes another kid whose life will get fucked up by that raccoon? And what's this 'training to marry someone' shit?"

"Calm down, Naruto." Kakashi's eyes averted to Saya. "This is what it means to inherit from a powerful clan. Vows are made, secrets are kept, rules are enforced… it's been that way for many dominating clans. You already know about the Hyuuga clan from Neji, so this situation isn't surprising, if you think about Gaara's position and how he's been treated until now."

Though still heated, Naruto gritted his teeth. "That's messed up."

I looked at Kakashi thoughtfully. "So that's the real reason we're going to Sunagakure? To protect Gaara from bridal candidates who might be Orochimaru's spies?"

"In the end, I knew that it was going to end up to be something like this," he confirmed. "We are certain that Orochimaru has something he wants in Sunagakure, most likely dealing with Gaara. It is very likely that he'll use this chance to make his move. If we find the spy, we find Orochimaru, and then we'll have a lead to Sasuke."

As Kakashi ended the discussion, I stared at the stars in the black sky. While Naruto and Sakura began talking thoroughly about finding Sasuke, I couldn't focus on their conversation. Instead I thought about how I hoped that the nice-smelling girl next to me wasn't the spy we were looking for.

**Saya**

Traveling with Team Kakashi was much more conversational than I thought it would be. Since I technically wasn't a shinobi, the team walked with me the rest of the way to the village, which was only about a day away by foot.

Naruto seemed fascinated by my existence, asking questions about the most trivial topics, while Sakura remained quiet and observant, not speaking much. Kiba prompted me to play with Akamaru as we walked and Kakashi asked me if I wanted to take a break every hour, which was thoughtful, but slightly insulting. Overall, the journey was laid-back and casual, since there was no immediate hurry for any of us.

"What's Iwagakure like?" Naruto asked as we passed into sandy terrain. "Rocky?"

"Well," I answered, silently panicking in my mind, "It's… mountainous." After saying the first thing that came to mind, I felt incredibly stupid for forgetting to ask Deidara about Iwagakure.

"The village is surrounded by mountains," explained Kakashi. "It's partially why it's one of the most well-defended shinobi villages in the world."

"Exactly," I replied, never hearing about that before. "To be honest, there isn't much." Deidara had left, after all; it can't have been that interesting if he didn't even try to blow it up.

"Do you come from a noble clan?" asked Kakashi.

"Yes and no," I replied, now fully in track of my lies. Itachi and I went over this multiple times. "I was born an orphan and immediately adopted into the Sakurai clan." Sakurai, I figured, was most likely under control by Madara, who created all of the false documents and records of my existence in that clan. "Ever since I was little, I have been trained to serve the Kazekage."

"I see," Kakashi replied, sounding a little more understanding than I thought he would be. "So you're from that famous 'samurai' clan. No wonder you're wielding a katana."

_Too bad I suck_, I thought, suddenly feeling foolish having the blade over my shoulder. I would probably end up embarrassing the Sakurai clan's reputation sometime very soon.

And as Sunagakure came into sight through the sandy dunes, I felt calmer and more laid-lack entering into mission territory than I probably should have.

**Gaara**

I was looking into Kakashi team's updated files in my office when Temari knocked on the door.

"Come in," I answered almost lazily.

"We can't delay any further," she said immediately as she walked in, tossing a rather thick collection of files onto my desk. "The old geezers want Father's will to be over and done with. Guess they're really eager for an heir."

The corner of my lip upturned. I had always known that they greatly feared me. "If they truly wanted one, they could have made you or Kankurou wed first."

"Two hundred ladies are not here to marry me or Kankurou," she replied tartly. "_You're_ the Kazekage. Alright then, we're starting the selections tomorrow."

Pointedly ignoring the files of the candidates, I remarked, "So two hundred women are after the power of Sunagakure."

My older sister frowned. "Two hundred wealthy, beautiful, respected women are after _you_," she corrected. "You should be flattered."

I didn't believe her in the slightest.

Barely knocking on the door, Uzumaki Naruto slammed open the door, yelling, "Gaara! Long time, no see!"

"Oi," scolded Temari. "Be quieter. This is the Kazekage's office, you know."

"Yo, Temari," he said as a side greeting, approaching my desk. "Damn, Gaara, you made Kazekage before I could make Hokage. You already have an office and everything. I guess you win this time." Flashing his wide grin, Naruto greatly confused me. The last time we had encountered, Shuukaku took over my conscience and fought him and a giant frog, destroying half a forest in the process. The injuries we both had taken were severe. Yet now he was treating me as if we were friends.

"Naruto!" Haruno Sakura walked in, looking icily at him. Hatake Kakashi and Inuzuka Kiba followed, both almost unchanged from the last time I saw them.

Kakashi glanced at the files of women on my desk as he approached. "Gaara-kun, before you give us our mission, we need to clarify something with you."

**Saya**

The hotel room was stifling; it seemed as if no place in Sunagakure could escape from the heat waves of the unsympathetic sun.

I turned on the fan and opened the windows, dumping the sand from my shoes down onto the back alley. With a normal temperature slightly higher than normal, I was not built for the dry, sandy heat of this village. Filling a glass with water, I sat down by the window, wanting to do nothing but fall asleep right at that moment.

Nine knocks at the door. I jumped up and quickly let Itachi and Deidara, hooded and cloaked in black and grey respectively, into the room.

"Why are you here?" I asked, slightly annoyed. "I remember what I'm supposed to do."

"We didn't expect to split up." said Itachi. "The plan won't change much, but Kakashi's team will keep an eye on you. Be cautious, Saya."

"Kakashi's team doesn't suspect me," I assured them, waving the possibility aside. "I might have already gotten their trust."

"You should not trust them," Itachi warned, lowering his hood. "It's unsafe and naïve at this point so early in the mission."

Something about what he said made me become defensive. "Listen, this is Uzumaki Naruto we're talking about. I know about the entire team better than you do; trust me, they're not bad people. I can do this without your opinion of their trustworthiness."

Deidara, who had suddenly tossed his cloak aside, shoved me onto the floor. Clutching my seat, I was about to give him a piece of my mind until I saw his face.

"Don't get ahead of yourself, kid." His eyes were a cold, icy blue. "This isn't about your judgment of who's good and who's bad. You're just acting cocky because you know a little more about them than we do, and you think that places you above our insight." He seized the front of my shirt, painfully yanking me forward. "It doesn't matter if they're trustworthy. Think about your situation; you're working for us now. In their eyes, we're a criminal organization full of ex-nin who threatens their village's power. You and Uzumaki Naruto, no matter how friendly you get, will always be enemies."

His words were sharp, cutting right through the center. My tone suddenly lightened. "… I—I never said I wanted to be friends with him."

"It seemed like you guys were getting along pretty well."

"Enough, you two." Itachi's voice was like a means of restraint, and although Deidara and I were at completely different levels, I knew he could feel it, too. "We have work to do."

As Deidara and Itachi took seats at the table for two, I sat on the bed, keeping my head close to the window.

"Kakashi arranged for you to stay here, so we obviously can't stay with you. He most likely wants to keep you right under his nose." Itachi said. "Instead of your original plan to stay at Madara's prepared location, we'll meet every night at one o' clock in this room. If you cannot arrive on time, then leave a note in the room; I will be able to see it through the spy hole. If you do not leave a note, we will assume that you have been kept from us unwillingly."

"But what if Naruto or Kakashi sees you walking in the hallways?" I asked. "They'll make a scene; not to mention they might find out that we're working together."

"It's even riskier if they catch you sneaking out at night," answered Deidara. "That gives them reason to suspect _you_ directly. It'll be alright if we're seen, as long as they don't see us _with_ you. But if you're followed to Madara's place, then we'll lose an important safe house."

Itachi's eyes flickered. "Do not forget that our mission prioritizes you, not us."

"Plus, we're not that easy to find." Deidara grinned widely. "You're underestimating us, kid."

"If you have any problems, send word through Gintarou." Itachi released an ordinary brown messenger bird. "He traces us by scent."

"Here," Deidara tossed a strange necklace, which I almost didn't catch. "Whenever we meet, show it to us so we know that you're the real one." I stared at the red jewel in the middle of the oddly-shaped black pendant. "It's Madara's. He said that you'll find it useful."

"And did he say how I would find it useful?" I asked, dangling the weird pendant from the thin silver chain. Maybe it had powers.

"He said you'll figure it out when you need it."

Slightly bothered, I pocketed it. "Right." Of course Madara would want me to figure it out. He would certainly enjoy my memories of blood, sweat, and tears during his next mind-violation session. Stingy mask-freak.

"One more thing," Deidara dropped a large box on the bed, which fell with a soft _flump_. "We were just holding on to that, but since we're separating, you're going to need it." Curious, I opened the box and closed it just as quickly when I saw what it was. Deidara grinned. "I'll help you with it if you'd like."

"Don't bother." interjected Itachi. "You don't possess the knowledge."

"I'm an artist, un!"

Frankly, I didn't trust either of them to help me properly, but since Itachi came from a powerful, well-respected clan, I supposed that I should probably count on his assistance.

"Just leave," I said, not wanting to think about neither what was in the box nor how it represented what I had to do in the next few days. "It's too hot… I don't want to think anymore."

"Don't sleep too much," Itachi said before they left. "You'll get hazy and inefficient."

"Thanks for your concern."

It had been the first peaceful morning I had experienced in a while, not having to worry about Deidara scaring me to death at the crack of dawn.

Moving around the room and changing, I felt strangely independent. I left the hotel and started walking through the empty village, wishing that I could sleep during the day and work at night, because when the sun was still below the horizon, the village was actually quite cold.

For the first time since I entered this world, I felt that sense of aloneness and self-dependency that I was so familiar with in the world I was born in. Only this time, I wasn't actually alone.

"Yo," a familiar voice said, and I turned, spotting Kiba sitting atop a building roof. He waved, his grin resembling Deidara's.

"Y-Yo," I replied, remembering Itachi's warning and suddenly wondering if Kiba were ordered by Kakashi to spy on me.

"You're a morning person, too, huh," he remarked, jumping down. "Sadly, Akamaru isn't. That's too bad; he really likes playing with you."

"That's because he can knock me over as much as he wants. I swear he laughed at me this one time." _Stinking mut._

Kiba laughed, looking older than I was, although he was a year younger. "But your 'dead' game is really funny! Even I had fun watching you guys play."

Never having a dog at my family's house, I had always wanted a furry companion to take care of. The family who owned the restaurant was nice, but the mother had allergies. "I used to play with one dog a lot," I started, remembering the old home. "I don't know dog breeds, but she was big, white, and fluffy. She was my neighbor's pet, and he would let her out in the yard all day. Every time I passed by, she would run over and want me to play with her." I grinned. "She was so funny, and so darn stubborn. Akamaru reminded me of her."

"What was her name?" he asked as we walked.

"Uh, it was Tobi." I blurted out the first Japanese dog name that came to mind. Saying a non-Japanese name would probably raise questions.

"Tobi, huh." He said, glancing at the horizon. "Cute."

The sudden urge to gag overtook me, but I stopped myself halfway, receiving an odd glance.

"You okay?" he asked, looking somewhat concerned.

"Yeah," I muttered, clearing my throat quickly.

He chuckled. "You're a weird girl. You get along with Naruto so well. At first, I thought you were pretty mature, but then you act like a kid the next second. It's like you switch between a seven year-old and a twenty-seven year-old."

"Well, you're too normal!" I said, somewhat feeling like I was being looked down upon by an older sempai, even though he was younger than I was. That was frustrating. "You don't have multiple mouths or eyes that look possessed by the devil, or a constant urge to kill someone just because you're bored, or weird-colored skin, or an appetite for dead bodies, or a stupid orange mask, or—" I stopped, realizing my rant was getting dangerously revealing. Hand covering my face, I already felt Itachi's punishment for my carelessness at our next Sharingan session.

Kiba, meanwhile, simply stared until he finally started laughing. "You're really an interesting girl! Who have you been talking to lately?"

I looked away sheepishly. "No one important, really."

"That's cold, you know." He looked at the street, his expression a little embarrassed. "Am I really that ordinary?"

Realizing that I might have hurt his feelings a little, I quickly answered, "Ah, no! The people I know are just too strange! Don't take that seriously, okay?" When his face didn't change, I desperately added, "I was stupid for saying that; I say stupid things when I get upset. I mean, I'm calling you normal when you paint your cheeks and commonly use your dog as transportation! A-And you're a chuunin! Not many people pass that exam."

He stared. "How do you know that?"

"Uh…" I said. Laughing nervously, I mentally swore at myself for being careless again. "Intuition. I mean, you looked so experienced and professional when we were traveling, so I assumed…."

"But we were just walking."

"We were?" I asked suddenly, distracted. "Oh… yeah, we were. Well, your walk was very…. efficient. I thought right away, 'Wow, he must be a chuunin.'"

He looked at my worried face and broke into laughter again. "You really are funny, Saya." When he placed his hand on my head and looked at me as though I were younger than he was, I realized that he could see past my lie. "Thanks. You cheered me up."

"Oi!" I said, getting mad. "I'm sixteen, you know! Stop treating me like Dei—like a kid!"

"You're older?" he asked, stunned. "Really?"

"Of course, baka!" I answered, pushing his hand away.

"But I'll feel weird calling you Saya-sempai." He grinned. "Is it okay if I just call you Saya?"

"It's fine," I replied. "I don't really care either way. N-Not that I couldn't care less or anything," I added quickly when I saw his expression again. "I like whatever you want to call me."

"Then is Saya-chin okay?"

"No. Rejected."

He laughed again. Really, I had no idea why he was so entertained by me. But now that he was beginning to trust me, I began to take advantage of it. "Uh, I know I told you that I'm here because I was summoned by the Kazekage, but I didn't tell you why." I gulped. "Well, I'm actually a candidate to become—"

"—Gaara's future bride, I know."

Staring at him in shock, I wondered how he managed to guess that.

"Kakashi figured," he explained. "I think he knew about the whole thing for a while. All the candidates are going to him today, right?"

"Yeah," I answered.

"You're up against some pretty rich, dolled-up, confident ladies, you know that?"

I looked down at the street. "I know."

"Do you think you can win?"

Tightening my lips, I answered, "I have to."

"You want it that badly?"

"Yeah."

"If you say so. I guess he is sort of good-looking and cool… and wealthy, too."

This time I laughed. "Why don't you marry him?"

"Maybe I will."

**Gaara**

"Gaara," Kankurou said, knocking on the bedroom door.

"I know," I answered calmly, but slightly ill-temperedly. The competition for my hand would start today, and I was expected in the courtyard soon. But first I made my way to a different location in a more private area.

"Kazekage-sama!" The security guards stood, and I watched the multiple screens, noticing that a large number of the candidates had already arrived.

"It's not for another few hours, isn't it?" I asked. _These women really want the power of Sunagakure_.

"Yes, but many of them are waiting for a chance to meet you before the formalities begin," one of the guards replied. "You are very admired, Kazekage-sama."

_My power as Kazekage is very admired_, I corrected silently. "And none of them realize that they're on surveillance?"

"Yes, sir. Only the staff here knows about this room. With the exception of the bathrooms, every area in the palace is covered. If there is any foul play or inconsistency among the women, we'll catch it right away."

Watching the women on screen, I felt even more powerful with this secret observation.

_Show your true natures, women._

**Saya**

After the morning walk with Kiba, I returned to the hotel room, only to find Itachi sitting at the table, waiting.

"You rose quite early today," he remarked as I shut the door behind me and showed him Madara's weird necklace.

"It was cold," I said, pocketing the trinket and sitting on the bed. "I left the window open and the sheets in the closet because it was so hot. But at night, it got really cold, so I woke up."

"Did you enjoy your morning stroll with that boy?"

I looked at him strangely. Itachi wasn't one to casually ask questions like that. "What do you mean?"

"It's unnecessary to create such an attachment to them," he replied. "He might be around your age, but you need to focus. What if he were following you the moment you left your room and you didn't notice it?"

"It didn't seem like that," I answered stupidly, knowing that he had a point.

He sighed. "You're too trusting."

Feeling guilty for some reason, I avoided his eyes. "He was just really… normal. I mean, he's pretty unique, but the way he talked to me was like most people I used to know in… in the other world. He was just easy to talk to."

"Don't create a relationship with anyone but the target," he warned.

"It doesn't hurt to make friends," I insisted. "I want Kakashi's team to trust me."

"You're too much."

I didn't have anything to say to that, so I changed the topic. "So why are you here? Stopping by for breakfast?"

"You need to be in the palace courtyard in three hours," he said. "I suggest you take a shower. I came to help you dress."

I grimaced. _Oh, right_. "The way you say it makes me sound like a child."

"You are a child." _Ouch_.

"Are you my nii-san?" I asked, annoyed as I walked to the bathroom and took off my socks in the process.

"I feel like it."

"Right." I threw my socks at him and entered the bathroom. "Well, then, I'm counting on you to help me, _onii-chan_*." And I shut the door, silently laughing while I thought about his priceless facial expression.

* * *

**Nii-san: a respectful way to address an older brother**

**Imoto: younger sister**

**Genjutsu: shinobi illusion technique  
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**Iwagakure: Hidden Village of Rocks  
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**Onii-chan: a cuter, less formal way to address an older brother**

**How will Itachi get his revenge? Find out in the next chapter... coming soon  
**

**Don't worry about rambling if you write long reviews... I like long ones the best. I'm pretty easy to amuse, so when I know that people enjoy my story, I like writing it even more.  
**


	17. Impulse

**The truth is, I really don't have time to write this, but I did anyway. Told you I wouldn't ditch this. =)**

**Warning: Chapter contains unexpected intensity. But you might be used to that by now.**

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**Temari**

Whispers flooded through the courtyard the moment Gaara and I passed through, attempting to go to breakfast. The eagerly awaiting felines pounced as their potential prize came into sight.

"That's the daughter of the Osama clan," I whispered to Gaara as the young lady approached. "I think her name is Yukiko."

"Osama… from our country?" he asked. The Osama clan was one of the wealthiest clans in the Wind country, second only to the feudal lord's family. The name Osama was well known for constructing skilled tea ceremonies and crafting fine china.

"The one and only."

The lady approached with expected grace and poise, her tiny steps giving the illusion that she was gliding. Her mother, Lady Osama, was known as the best at tea ceremonies, and her elegance was both inherited and learned by this young lady.

"Kazekage-sama," she addressed in her gentle, feminine voice, bowing slightly.

Gaara barely nodded in return, completely overlooking her brilliantly-adorned, pink furisode kimono and wide, gold-patterned obi that probably cost a small fortune. While other of the male staff stopped walking to gape at her lovely face, intricate long hairstyle, and delicate paper umbrella blocking the sun from burning her pale skin, Gaara kept moving with purpose.

As we watched Gaara walk away, apparently in a hurry, I figured that he wanted to keep his mind off today's later events for as long as possible. Although I understood his feelings, I still felt a pang of guilt for the enchanting lady in front of me.

"He expresses no interest in me," Yukiko observed, her tone light, but slightly downcast.

"He has no interest in women yet," I explained, reassuring her that it wasn't her lack of beauty. "Honestly, I don't know what the elders are thinking, pushing this on him so quickly. In the end, he probably isn't even going to be the one to choose." Even though I would never say it to his face, we both knew that this wasn't about Gaara finding and marrying the girl of his inexistent dreams; this entire affair was going to end in as a competition. He wouldn't care to choose, but the one considered the most beautiful, graceful, and popular will be the widely-accepted winner. The elders will receive their heir who will inherit the powerful blood of Gaara, and then they will poison the heir's mind with their ways, making the child a tool they control who will lead Sunagakure according to their agenda.

"I see." Yukiko seemed to be very understanding. I supposed it was in her blood; her mother was also a very accepting and agreeable person. It was too bad that Gaara had no intention to make relations with her.

As I excused myself, I noticed that the other small-time candidates waiting around the courtyard seemed even more discouraged. After all, if Gaara had disregarded the wealthiest and loveliest of them all, then how was he ever going to see any of the others? Watching their fallen expressions, even I started to feel bad for them.

I had arrived at the breakfast table, finding Gaara with paperwork in one hand and a cup of tea in the other.

"You really need to learn the meaning of _hospitality_," I told him as I sat across from him at the breakfast table.

"I didn't ask for this."

"You could've at least said, 'Hi, welcome to Sunagakure'! It takes about two seconds longer."

"They're only after my title. I don't care for such women."

As I began to eat, I only became more irritated. "Look," I said, pointing my chopsticks at him. "I don't know why you keep saying that, but when I looked at those girls, they seemed pretty hopeful to me. I know some of them who are from our village, and they really do admire you. Maybe you should give them a chance before you cast them away like lepers." I angrily continued eating, staring at him. When he didn't respond, I scoffed. "Well, I guess they're not going to like you anymore, now they know you're an inconsiderate ass."

**Gaara**

I stared blankly at the paper in my hand as Temari continued.

"Aren't you curious about the person you're going to marry? Don't you care about who it might be, even a little bit?" I knew she was staring me down, but I refused to look at her. Of course, Temari was being logical, but she just didn't understand.

If she had said that to me two years ago, I probably would have killed my own sister. And that thought scared me. Everyone, especially in this village, remembered the way I used to act. Villagers still flinched when I glanced at them as I passed by. No one would ever forget my old self, no matter how much I changed. My destiny was set the moment I had joined with Shuukaku*. Now, and forever more, I will always be seen as a monster.

Girls admired me? I couldn't possibly believe that any girl would seriously want to live the rest of her life with me unless it was for my power.

I stood, having enough of this nonsense. "I'm going for a walk."

**Saya**

Feeling like I was wearing an extremely thin cloak, I kept my hands on the cloth over my chest, strangely vulnerable.

Itachi was behind me, which made me feel uncomfortable, but if he were in front, it would have been worse; I was wearing nothing but undergarments underneath. He centered the yukata from the back.

"You can at least overlap the sides by yourself, right?" he said as he pulled the whole thing up to my ankles.

"Yeah," I answered, not really knowing what I was doing at all as I placed the left side over my front and then the right on top, trying to create as little creases as possible.

"Are you planning to die?*" he asked, his chest closing in on my back and undoing the overlap.

"Wha—! What are you doing?" I panicked, trying to get away.

"It's left over right," he said, using little effort to hold me in place. "Don't worry; I won't see anything." And skillfully, he switched the sides over my chest without revealing my skin, but because of that, he had to reach into and across my chest quite slowly and carefully, which caused me to resist and struggle involuntarily. "I won't do anything unnecessary," he assured, finishing the overlap smoothly.

_If you're going to say something like that, don't say it in that voice,_ I thought, desperately wanting to get this over with. He then wrapped a thin sash around my waist, tightening it securely in the back. The sudden severity startled me because it clashed with his previous gentle care.

Itachi, noticing my alarm, said in my ear, "If I don't tie it tightly, the yukata will become loose."

"R-Right," I said, trying to ignore the tickling of his voice and breath. But just when I was beginning to adjust, he reached his hands into the garment over my tied waist, digging, searching underneath. "Woah! Where are you—!" I said, feeling his hands through the thin yukata. He didn't stop until he pulled out extra fabric from underneath, forming some sort of layer. Bright red, I pushed him away quite harshly in desperation. "I—I knew I wouldn't like this," I said quietly. "L-Let me do the rest myself."

He just looked at me with a small hint of a smile. "There's nothing left besides tying the obi."

_He's doing this on purpose, he's _definitely_ doing this on purpose_, I thought furiously as I reluctantly let him tie the thick sash behind me. It was definitely revenge for the earlier _onii-chan_ episode.

When he had finished, I spun around, not able to bear having my back to him any longer. The yukata followed, feeling light and airy in this hot and dry weather. Itachi gave me a once-over, his eyes halting at my hair. I quickly moved to fix it, but he stopped me.

"Your hair is so unfit for wearing a yukata," he remarked, holding black pins in his hand. "Since it is short, there isn't much I can do except pin the bangs back." He pinned my untidy locks back away from my face and smiled. I stared at him for the longest time, taking in the rare, strange expression.

"You look just like a kid with your hair pinned like this," he said, fixing it.

"Shut up," I said lightly. "I know I have a disadvantage." I touched my loose hair sheepishly. "Guys like long hair."

"Then why do you keep it short?"

"Because it bothers me."

He chuckled. "How simple-minded."

"It's true!" I insisted. "You have long hair; you should understand."

"Think whatever you wish."

**Itachi**

Though she was in a good mood, Saya's face began to change as she finally started to look her age. I knew that she was suddenly reminded of something sad, so I sat us both down on the bed.

"Itachi," she started, looking out the window. "Earlier, when you said that you were like my older brother, did you really mean it?"

Wondering why she was taking it so seriously, I answered honestly. "Yes, I did."

Her already-rosy cheeks began to darken. "Why?" she asked. "It's not like you're obligated to treat me like this."

I sighed, thinking that I knew where this was going. "Why, indeed…" Other than the fact that she possessed precious knowledge of this world, Saya was just an ordinary girl. She had no special talent or abilities, and her intelligence wasn't that much above average. But her kindness and understanding had seen past my cold barrier. It was if she had known what my deepest desires were. It was if she could only see the good in me. She was more kindhearted than anyone else I met in this world.

In truth, she really didn't belong with criminals like the Akatsuki. By making relations with us, she would only be corrupted. I knew that, yet I couldn't push her away. Why did fate send her to us?

"What do you really think of me?" she asked, which took me by surprise. "If… If this is all a nuisance to you, then you really don't have to take care of me. I…" she looked down at her hands. "I really don't like being pitied. So if Madara or Pain is making you look after me, you don't have to force yourself."

I looked at her, wondering how she hit the nail on the head so accurately. It was in her nature to prevent from troubling others, as her family had expressed their disinterest in her "lack of potential". She never had anyone who cherished her, and yet I had no idea why. How could the people in her world be so blind to her?

Saya looked down, clearly avoiding my gaze. "You know, my brother was never like you were." She continued timidly. "He never really talked to me unless it was to scold me for ruining his reputation. My parents were the same. So I don't really know what it's like to have an older brother." As she turned to look at me, her face was shy. "You're just like him; perfect in every way. You're talented, intelligent, and well-respected. But you treat me so well, and I don't know what to do about it. How am I supposed to respond? What am I supposed to do for you? Those questions kept rising in my mind, but because I never experienced anything like this, I never knew how to answer them." Her fist tightened. "For the first time, I can find a flaw in my brother. For the first time, I can be angry at him for making me like this. Because someone like you exists."

_Don't… don't talk anymore._ This was dangerous. If she continued, I didn't know what I would do. My head was a mess and my chest was tightened. What was this feeling? Admiration? Love? It wasn't something as simple as those. My entire being was supposed to be sacrificed for justice. I was supposed to drive away everything important to me, including Sasuke, and in doing so, I would throw away my heart. But her invasive nature destroyed my resolution and left it to burn. My whole sense of individuality, not as a shinobi, but as a human being, was created by her. My entire being belonged to her now. I was whatever she wanted me to be: a brother, a guardian, a lover, even a slave. My fate is now in her hands.

I was supposed to be a martyr of justice. I was supposed to do anything for Konoha's cause. Sasuke was supposed to be the one I cared about the most in my life. I had sacrificed everything for him: my family, my best friend, my lover, and in the end, my own life. I was supposed to be a martyr. But now, I didn't want to be. I wanted to live.

"Itachi?" she asked gently. When I didn't respond, she simply smiled and looked down. It was the saddest expression I had ever seen. "I've been talking nonsense this entire time. Sorry about that. Forget everything I said." She stood and began to walk towards the door.

What happened next was all instinct. For the first time in my life, I didn't think. I didn't want to think. My hand involuntarily took her sleeve. She stopped and turned in astonishment, but before she could react properly, I drew her to me, my arms around her.

"I-Itachi?" she breathed. I felt her heart accelerate and suddenly held her more tightly. "Wha—"

"Don't speak," I pleaded. I couldn't hold her tightly enough. It wasn't enough. If she moved, I would probably suffocate her. "Please… stay like this."

I felt her breath hasten on my neck. "Itachi… it hurts." Even so, my arms wouldn't loosen.

But it was her next words that had taken me aback. "… My chest hurts."

**Saya**

I walked aimlessly around the Kazekage's palace, not thinking about my mission or why I was even in this village at all. Even in this heat, I could still feel Itachi's warmth that lingered on my body.

He had listened after all. Though he didn't answer any of my questions, the emotions that ran through his body into mine left no doubts. I had received all of his overwhelming feelings through his burning embrace, and my chest inevitably started to ache.

Did his embrace mean that he felt the same way? Did he want me to be his family? Or did he actually have feelings for me? I didn't understand anymore. He desperately held onto me, as if I would disappear if he didn't. It wasn't the same as when Sasori held me; this wasn't love—no matter how twisted and strange Sasori and mine had been—simply between a man and woman. Back then, I had felt overwhelming happiness and a clear sense of yielding as he forced himself onto me. Now, I felt a throbbing ache in my heart and an unsettling feeling of being overtaken.

Suddenly, I understood. Itachi wasn't aware of what he was doing; his body just moved from impulse. He wasn't afraid of _my_ disappearance, he was afraid of his own. He kept holding in desperation, as if he would lose himself the moment he let go.

_What in the world is Itachi going through?_ As I thought of ways that I could help ease his pain even a little bit, nothing came to mind. That killed me. Why, when Itachi was always looking after me, could I never do anything for him?

I sat down on the ground, and tried to pull myself together.

_You have a mission, Saya._ _You don't have time to worry about this. You're needed in the palace in an hour. Forget about this and complete your mission._

I grabbed my knees, forcing myself to clear my head. _It was only a hug, it was only for comfort…._ But I knew that thought was wrong in its very essence. For Itachi, showing any sign of emotion was rare, let alone losing control of his emotions. Even though I tried to calm myself, my body still felt too hot. Itachi was like family to me…. He was supposed to be like family….

For no good reason, I pulled out Madara's necklace and stared at it, as if that would make everything better. The red stone sparkled and the black stone around it shone smoothly in the sunlight. Oddly, the combination reminded me of the Sharingan, but nothing else came to mind as I stared intently at the pendant.

"You said it would help," I told a non-existent Madara. "So why isn't it fucking working?" Throwing it without even looking, I internally cursed Madara and called him names that I knew he would punish me for later when he used his Sharingan, but at the moment, I didn't care. I knew that it wasn't his fault, but I didn't care. I needed someone to hate, so I hated Madara. He was easy to hate. I hated him anyway. But mostly, I hated myself.

"That hurt, you know!"

I knew whose voice it was, but no matter how much I liked him, I decided to ignore him. But, as I knew he would, Naruto sat down next to me and swung the necklace around his finger.

"So what happened? I heard you swear just now. It was really loud; I actually think the whole village heard it." He tried to peek into my face, which was secured between my arms and knees. Then his voice changed. "Oi, really, are you okay?"

"Shut up! Go away!" Before I could control myself, I cracked. It wasn't that I didn't want to see him; I just didn't want anyone to see me like this. When I lived in the other world, I never relied on anyone to confide in or take comfort in. I had always dealt with my problems by myself. Whenever something awful happened, I would isolate myself, suck it up, and move on. That's the way I had lived my whole life. So the fact that someone was right here, watching me at my worst, was highly disturbing. I didn't want him to see me like this.

But when his expression changed, I stopped dead. His eyes, which were worried, suddenly turned into saddening understanding state. It was almost as if he were used to this treatment… ever since he was born….

Before he could walk away, I desperately grabbed him. "I—I…"

He stopped, his eyes melancholy. "It's okay, Saya; I understand—"

"No, you don't!" I yelled uncontrollably, which startled him. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that. I was just upset and embarrassed that you saw me, so I just…. I don't want you to go. Stay here. Please."

No matter how screwed up I was, I could never let him go like this. Uzumaki Naruto should never ever feel like a monster again.

After recovering from a moment of shock, he smiled sadly and bent down in front of me. "Okay," he answered unquestioningly.

He just looked at me the entire time we sat there, not saying anything, right until it was time to go into the palace. Though I usually hated when people stared at me, this time, I didn't feel uncomfortable. I wondered why.

Before we entered the palace, he spoke. "Saya?"

"Hm?" I asked calmly. He smiled a little sadly as we walked through the entrance.

"You look really pretty."

**Gaara**

The moment I spotted Naruto, I felt the urge to talk to him, but I knew I would never be the one to start conversation. I was never one to speak first, but for some reason Naruto intrigued me. But he was with someone else, a girl. As I watched the rather emotional events unfold between them, I was more and more curious about the girl. Even though I knew Naruto had important people to him, I had never seen anyone treat him quite like that. Didn't she know that he was a Jinchuuriki? Didn't people, even ones who cared about him, fail most of the time to take him seriously?

It all confused me. Was she perhaps his…?

The girl was in a white yukata with yellow floral designs and a golden-patterned obi tied around her waist. Her black hair was short and choppy, but loosely flowed with the wind. But before I could get a better look, Kankurou found me and hailed me into the palace to prepare for the incoming guests.

**Saya**

Naruto and I had little trouble finding our way to the ballroom; the light chatter and flashy dress of young women drew us to the right place right away.

The ballroom was spacious and simple-looking, with little décor. If it weren't for the windowed walls, the place could easily have been mistaken for a clean tournament hall. At least a hundred women were standing under the white ceiling, waiting for the Kazekage's appearance. Everywhere I looked, I could see a lady who was prettier than I was: with makeup, better hair, fancier dress, superior poise.

"Naruto!" Sakura came over, a frown on her face. "You're late."

"Sorry, Sakura-chan," he replied, scratching his head. I instantly felt responsible.

"Hi, Saya," she added, giving me a smile out of politeness despite her bad mood.

"Hello," I responded.

"We've got to go; Kakashi-sensei's been wondering where you were." Sakura pulled Naruto by the collar and waved to me as they walked away.

"Good luck, Saya!" Naruto called. As I watched them leave and thought of his parting words, I was forced to realize the rather impossible position I was in. I turned to the front, searching and waiting for Gaara, knowing that I was one in a crowd.

Back at home, I could never get a boy's attention for romantic reasons. Most of the guys that I took interest in never even considered the thought that I might have had feelings for them. I was very good at hiding it, and very ready to yield to others. Since I had classic tastes in the other world, the boys I tended to like were very well-liked by others, often my own friends. The moment I realized someone I knew had feelings for the same guy I liked, I would immediately back off.

I understood that, to make a relationship possible, I had to make my interest known to my object of affection. But, for reasons that no one else will ever understand, I was always very sensitive of others' feelings, and never wanted to make anyone feel uncomfortable. Whether it be the boy himself, jealous girls who liked him, or his disapproving friends, I simply didn't want any of them to be troubled by my feelings.

Maybe it was because my feelings for the boy in particular weren't strong enough, or because I was just being a coward, but I never acted upon my personal feelings.

So, as Gaara walked into the room, wearing his usual crimson outfit and gourd, while the other girls in the room giggled and murmured, I began to focus. I knew that if I were entering this competition for my love interest, I wouldn't last a second. There was no way that I could beat those girls, or even stand up to them. It was because I had a reason that was so much more important than my life that I could stand here and be determined. It wasn't even because of the Akatsuki that I was doing this. My reasons behind this mission may not have been for the universal sense of justice, but for my own. I didn't want Gaara or Chiyo to die. But I also didn't want Gaara to live the rest of his life as a monster. And I definitely didn't want Sasori to die, or Deidara to lose his arms, and therefore, his clay techniques. And that was why I was here.

Gaara took a seat on the throne with his brother next to him. Temari was on his other side, but she was standing. I subconsciously started to move towards them.

"Welcome, ladies." She smiled. "Most of you have traveled very far to get here, so we thank you for your time. Before we begin—"

When Temari's eyes averted as she paused, everyone turned to see the latest arrival. Her appearance seemed to make the atmosphere of the girls around her dull in comparison. Accompanied by three female servants in matching black dresses, a very intricately-dressed lady walked into the room. Her white-painted face held high, she wore so much makeup that she looked like a geisha. Adorned by a brilliant, floor-length, red furisode kimono with designs in every color, she looked like a Japanese princess on her wedding day. So much hair was tied tightly and confusingly on the back of her head that I couldn't believe it could all be hers, all held by large gold hairpins with hanging cherry blossoms. I felt as if cherry blossom petals should have been tossed as she walked to complete the picture.

I looked down at what first seemed like a pretty yukata and shrugged. At this point, it wouldn't have made a difference if I were wearing jeans and a T-shirt.

"Ah, Chia-baa-sama*!" When Temari announced her appearance, I uncontrollably snorted. When everyone around me, including Gaara and Kankurou, turned to stare, I quickly looked down, ashamed. I had probably heard wrong.

"I am terribly sorry for my lateness," the lady said, her haughty voice suggesting that she wasn't sorry at all. I felt as if I knew who this person might be, and whispers around me only further implied my assumption. Only one type of person could make the prestigious ladies around me gossip so enthusiastically.

"Of course she's late…."

"She _always_ steals the attention…"

"Damn royalty."

"Of course, Wind Country feudal princess." A rather flashy-looking man with dark eye makeup and a bright green kimono spoke in a resounding voice. "I am Yasu, and I welcome you, as your host, to the exciting, one-time-only Sunagakure Bachelor Contest! Are you willing to risk a cruel heartbreak? Compete in the rough tasks to the end? Kazekage-sama's hand is at stake!"

Temari, who looked like she was trying to hold back her laughter at Yasu, took over. "Now that we have everyone here, we can begin our week-long event. Even if you are eliminated in the first round, you are still welcome to stay for the rest of the week. Now, let's not waste more of anyone's precious time; we will begin with the 'First Impressions' round. Everyone with number tags one through ten, please come to the front."

I looked down at the white circle on my chest with the black number 72. It looked like it was going to be a while before my turn. As they lined up in front of Gaara, I noticed an exceptionally pretty and graceful young lady in the first group. She made the other nine girls mercilessly monotonous.

Temari suddenly turned serious, her business nature taking over. "We will start with introductions; first impressions are very important. Since there are many more contestants then we had expected, unfortunately we must make very drastic first cuts. Gaara, Kankurou, and I will collaborate to select one of you from each group. State your name, age, origin, and routine. Then you will proceed with your thirty-second routine. Good luck to all of you."

Alternating weight between my feet, I stared at the floor as I thought of my chances. One in ten. I knew that the mission didn't state that I must win the competition. But if I were to be eliminated now, it would be unlikely that I would make any sort of relationship with Gaara. I had to pass this round at the very least.

Watching the others' introductions was easier than I had expected. Every girl seemed to fall into one of three categories: swooned girls of average status seeking romance and fame and wealth, hardened girls of respected shinobi status seeking power and a stable life-partner, and pompous girls of incredibly superior background seeking a worthy suitor to carry on the clan's proud name. As expected, the majority of the routines were dancing, singing, and playing instruments. Most were adequate; other poor girls, mostly of the first category, were so nervous they tripped or missed a note.

When the most beautiful of the first group introduced herself however, I had no doubt that she was the one.

"I am Osama Yukiko," she said in a velvety smooth voice, bowing directly to Gaara. It took me a moment to figure out that I was gaping at her like an idiot, subconsciously admiring her unfair feminine features. "It has been eighteen years to the day that I had been conceived. I reside in the feudal kingdom of the Wind Country. I shall dance."

Maybe it was because she was so beautiful. I couldn't take my eyes off her movement, using simply the ornate paper umbrella and a matching fan to accent her traditional dance. Yet the way she moved was so flowing and graceful that I suddenly felt like a troll in my own movements. It was like comparing water to sludge.

After a quick collaboration, Temari announced that Osama Yukiko was the winner of the first group. I at first had not expected the rush of three or four teary first-group girls to the bathroom. But then again, maybe that was what had separated the girls who were here for genuine reasons from the girls who weren't. I made a note to myself to attempt tears if I were to be eliminated in the first round.

As the second, third, fourth, and fifth groups went, the decision-making became longer and harder as the levels within the groups were almost matched. I spotted girls who looked kind, girls who looked insincere, girls who looked like they would threaten him if he had refused, girls who looked ten to twenty years older than him, girls who looked overconfident, girls who seemed like people I would make friends with, girls who looked way too independent and respected to be doing a competition like this, and girls who almost seemed forced into the game.

I glanced over at Naruto, wondering what he thought of this whole concept. Seeing his teeth gritted as he held back his temper, I grinned. Of course.

"Hello, there," a voice said from behind. I turned to see the last character I thought I would ever see competing in this kind of competition.

With dark pink hair and eyes, the bespectacled Karin grinned widely, almost resembling Naruto in a way. I tried to hold back my shock, wondering why she was in this place with a number tag on her chest.

"I'm Karin. Nice to meet you." She held out her hand, her arm covered in a dark purple sleeve of a revealing Western-styled dress. For a split second, I contemplated ignoring the hand in ridiculous fear that it would kill me or something. But I took it.

"Saya," I answered. _Why is she speaking to me?_ It seemed way too coincidental that she was striking up conversation out of pure interest. There was only one reason I could think of. But after looking around, I didn't see a sign of him anywhere.

"You're a weird one," she remarked bluntly, examining my hand without letting go. "Where is your chakra?"

Feeling uncomfortable from her lingering touch, I missed her last question. "What?" I said stupidly, turning red.

She laughed. "Your chakra, silly. I didn't feel any from you, so I wanted to know if you were human. Well," she smiled, noting my embarrassment and releasing my hand. "I suppose you are."

It took a while to process everything in my mind. Sasuke wasn't supposed to create his own team yet, at least not according to the manga. Had my interference changed everything that much, or was Karin actually working for him in secret? He was still with Orochimaru, so he couldn't have recruited her…. Could he?

Sasuke hadn't killed Orochimaru yet. But Karin had known who he was for a while, ever since the Chuunin Exam. Did that mean Suigetsu and Jugo were already working with him as well? Then, why was she competing for Gaara's hand? I was so sure that she was in love with Sasuke.

All of my disorganized thoughts eventually pointed towards one conclusion. She _was_ in love with Sasuke, that I knew for sure. Regardless of whether or not she was doing this for Sasuke, this was clearly a mission. And it was very possible that Uchiha Sasuke was involved in this mission. My chest started to tighten again at the thought of Itachi, who was now possibly in danger.

"Well," I said, smiling back. "Now that we're assured I'm human, what now?" I knew that I shouldn't trust this girl. It was best to play along with her own act for now.

"I think it's your turn," she said, nodding towards the front. Several other girls were standing there, all with numbers close to mine.

"Right," I answered stupidly, hustling to get in line; I did not want to stand out in a negative way. When I averted my eyes to Gaara, who had been staring into space the entire round, I found his eyes fixed upon mine. Turning red, I looked away and instead stared at Yasu, the strange-looking host. For some reason, I felt as if he were still watching me.

My thoughts first turned to Madara, whom I suspected had done something to make Gaara notice me. There was no other reason for him to stare at me, unless I had mud on my face or something.

"Number seventy-one, whenever you're ready."

* * *

**Shuukaku - the one-tailed tanuki demon sealed inside Gaara**

**"Do you want to die?" - Itachi's talking about kimono/yukata traditions: placing the right side over the left side in the front of the kimono is usually done for bodies ready for burial**

**Chia-baa-sama - the joke here is that Saya heard Temari wrongly; _baa-sama_ typically means grandmother in Japanese. Saya finds it funny because she thought Temari had called the feudal princess an old grandma. The princess' actual name is Chiaba, but because Temari is being respectful towards royalty, she adds the appropriate Japanese suffix -_sama_, addressing the princess as Chia_ba-sama_.**

**Thank you for being so patient. Your reviews are really motivating.**

**Next chapter is a fun little flashback with Konan and Pain. ****You'll finally discover what the heck Saya has been doing in her private dance/music lessons.**


	18. Women

**It's Saya's birthday today. Happy Birthday, Saya!**

**Uneditted again. It's becoming a bad habit. I just wanted to update asap.**

* * *

"Number seventy-one, whenever you're ready."

I barely heard Temari's voice over my own thoughts, which were drifting. I could hear Konan and Pain and recall their private lessons which now seemed so distant.

**Flashback**

"Listen, Saya-kun," Konan said to me as we were sitting in the meadow by the house. "There are three things about femininity that men are most fond of. They are the things that men cannot fully understand, just like we can't understand things about men."

"Do I want to hear this?" I thought aloud, thinking to myself that I secretly didn't.

Pain glanced at me with those seemingly unfeeling eyes. "If you want Gaara to notice you, then you do."

"Look," I said, exhaling, "I don't even think Gaara is interested in girls yet. So unless you turn me into some beautiful fairytale princess, I don't think I can get his attention."

"That's not the issue here. I don't even think fairytale princesses would grasp his attention now." Pain stared at a small white flower among many colorful ones. "He's probably going to be wary and hesitant about the courtship. You should be prepared for a cold disposition."

Grinning, I replied, "Considering that he killed people out of whim a year ago, I would say that he's improved."

"How fortunate for you," said Konan sarcastically. "So do you want to hear the three things or not?"

I was about to answer, "Not really,", but I felt Pain's stare become slightly menacing, and decided against it. "What are they?"

Konan seemed to avoid Pain's gaze as she spoke. "First, we have a gentleness that men naturally don't have. Just like they are naturally stronger and rougher, we are soft, both physically and emotionally. That sense of vulnerability and delicacy is very attractive to men. Our comfort and caring towards them is very precious to them."

"That's why men are so physical," added Pain. "We feel the need to protect them and be comforted by them at the same time."

When I heard both of them speak about it, I almost felt the conversation were personal.

Konan continued. "Second, we possess grace. Our movements are naturally smoother and more delicate. It may seem trivial, but it's actually a very noticeable difference between men and women just from daily actions. And I'm not talking only about movement; women also have a tendency to be more sympathetic and forgiving than men. Those are the two things that men yearn for in their lives that they do not easily receive elsewhere: sympathy and forgiveness."

Konan seemed to glow as she spoke more about the femininity that men adore; she was the perfect example. And as I thought about how I matched with these traits, I realized that I did possess them, but not nearly as well as others did. In fact, I didn't really feel all that delicate or graceful now that I thought about it.

"And lastly," Konan said, pausing and giving me a meaningful look before continuing, "we have humility in relationships. We are passionate and devout without being proud. Because men have so much pride, this is a relief for them. It gives them a sense of dominance and security."

"That sounds almost degrading," I remarked, a little disgusted. "It makes it seem as if we're meant to be their servants or something."

"The control lies within the woman," Pain said, surprising me. "Saya-kun, although nature has made us stronger and prouder, we are incredibly weak towards the women we love. Men become more infatuated with women than women do with men. Most men spend their lives struggling to feel the same devotion and passion from their lovers. As a result, they must cherish them. If anything, the relationship should resemble a knight and his princess." He placed his hand on my head. "A relationship between a man and woman is not equal, Saya-kun, and it's not meant to be. We were created to protect you, yet we're always at your mercy. Men become very humbled by love."

"I don't need to be protected!" I said, turning red. "I can protect myself! Gaara's the Kazekage, so wouldn't it be my job to protect him?"

"If you keep thinking like that, no boy will consider you as a potential mate." Konan looked at me sternly. "Your problem is that you lack the third quality. If you always try to challenge men and keep to their level, they begin to forget that you are a girl."

"So I'm supposed to act like a fragile, vulnerable weakling."

"You can be feminine without being weak," said Pain.

"I can't be feminine without being fake," I answered.

"Would it kill you to embrace your gender, even if you're acting?" Konan frowned. "Haven't you ever wanted to look pretty?"

My cheeks burning, I looked away and pouted.

"Then you should take advantage of this and try for once. Being attractive doesn't just mean looks. In your case especially, personality makes you look much prettier." She grinned. "Why do you think Sasori fell in love with you?"

At those words my heart raced and I felt like steam was coming out of my ears in embarrassment.

"See? That face, it's cute. You have something that's irresistible if people care enough to get to know you."

I brought my knees to my face, looking at the grass. "Now that you mention it, none of my friends from the other world really cared. I mean, they did care, I suppose, but no one ever made a real effort. Thinking about it now, I guess I was the one always taking the initiative." The realization made my heart sink. Maybe I was miserable all that time. "I… I'm not a very approachable person, so it's kind of hard to be interested in me. I've known that for a long time, but after meeting you people, everything changed." I couldn't meet their eyes. "Suddenly I was getting more attention than I've ever had my whole life. I became necessary to you. Sometimes I wake up and I'm scared that this is all just another wishful dream."

"You're really an idiot." A light bonk on my head took me aback, not because it was uncalled for, but because it was gentler than normal for him. Deidara looked annoyed, sitting down next to me. "Don't think about stupid things. Do you think your dreams can even imagine someone as attractive as me?"

"Huh?" was all I could say.

"I'm saying that your tiny little brain can't even process this masterpiece," he looked at me from centimeters away. "I know it might be hard to try to please a guy who isn't this good-looking, but you just have to imagine that it's me."

Mimicking vomiting, I turned away while Konan and Pain laughed. "Since he's here anyway, why don't we use Deidara to act as Gaara?" suggested Konan.

"Oh, uh, that's okay," I quickly replied. "I don't need anyone to—"

"Fine," Deidara interjected, sitting down in front of me. "Impress me."

I grimaced. This was going to be a long day.

**Deidara**

"My hobbies are dancing, singing, making tea, and cooking."

"Oi, Saya-kun," Konan cut in, "that's great and all, but you don't have to _lie_."

"I see," I answered, making my voice incredibly obnoxious for my role. "And, I already know that you like me, but what kind of man in general are you looking for?"

She had been glaring at my smug face the whole time, but her look at the moment was especially nasty. "I like a quiet, modest man with black hair and dark eyes who doesn't hit me and wake me up at six in the morning and call me names and make me take baths with him."

Popping a vein, I grinned to myself menacingly. _So that's how she's going to play? Alright. _But she was not finished.

"You know, like Itachi-san."

At the mention of his name, I could feel steam diffusing from my ears. "… Itachi-_san_?" Now she was referring to him in honorifics? And she had to mention the one man whom I despised the most. Staring daggers at her mischievous smirk, I decided that she had thrown the gauntlet down. I grinned in equal animosity. _I accept._

"I suppose you need a modest man to balance out with your abnormally big head."

She looked confused. "Aren't you mistaking me for you?"

"What?" I replied, equally confused.

But her face turned into mock sudden understanding. "Oh, that's right. Sasori's really proud, too. Guess you wouldn't let him push you down otherwise."

Enraged, I lunged at her without thinking. "You—!"

Konan and Pain were laughing hysterically.

"You promised you wouldn't talk about that!" As I tackled her, she just kept laughing. Even when I tried to attack her weak spots she laughed harder from the tickling touch. "Dammit! Dammit, dammit! I'M NOT AN UKE!"

* * *

**Hahahaha**

**Happy New Year, everyone**


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